Her Mysterious Smile

[Zach Kaiser]

There wasn't any reason for her to be ashamed, as she was about to find out. "Well, I don't really have one," he admitted. Most of the places in town served good food, and he didn't have particular preferences for eating--he tended to base his meals more around what was healthy than what he liked.

And after all, regardless of where they went Akizetsumei wouldn't be preparing the meal, so he figured he'd be safe from odd food combinations.

Though, that gave him idea. "I think I know a place we can go, though."

******

Soon, they were eating at the local sandwich shop. It was a fairly spartan place, made of wood and with only a handful of tables and chairs. Most people who ate there simply took their food on the go, though Eld and his friends (and others of their age) were known to hang out there now and again.

While he liked the place just fine, he had an ulterior motive or two for coming here: firstly, it was fairly inexpensive. He got the impression Akizetsumei didn't get an allowance much, so he didn't want her to waste it all on paying him back. Getting to see her in the swimsuit was all the reward he needed, anyway.

"What do you think?" he asked. His own sandwich, something or other with roast beef and a lot vegetables, was quite good, and he was hoping hers was too. He was especially hoping she noticed the make up of the sandwiches, because one of the reasons he took her here was so that she might get acquainted with how most people made sandwiches.

[Nayt]

Lettuce, tomatoes, bell peppers, green peppers, onions, and cucumbers, all wrapped up in this crazy kind of hoagie bun that Akizetsumei hadn't seen in years. When she saw all the plethora of potential ingredients, she had asked the sandwich chef if she could have a side of gravy, and received a very strange look. No, they did not carry gravy here. It was a very silly thing to ask, and she felt very silly for asking it. She also felt kind of disappointed. This sandwich would've been all tied together with some brown gravy.

It was probably the first time she'd been without a meat course for a week. It felt good. Akizetsumei wasn't actually the hugest fan of red meat, after all. She enjoyed gravy, but usually on things that normally should never have gravy on them rather than on meat.

Akizets just so happened to have a father and little brother that loved to eat meat. Gestahl practiced the idea that protein was conducive to maintaining healthy muscles and Oboreru dreamed of someday being as strong as his father. It was like some sort of passive show of ultra-machismo that made Akizetsumei roll her eyes and promptly consider the phrase "gag me with a spoon," though she could remember where she first heard it, very much appropriate to the situation. This was especially difficult as her older brother was a vegetarian and she mostly followed in his dietary footsteps. He just so happened to lay claims on the scarce few vegetarian friendly cuisines before she ever had the chance to.

She was sitting with Eld at a small table, and rather than sit across from him. She was across the table from him (though she was originally tempted to sit by his side), and a couple of older gentlemen sat at one of the few small tables behind her.

"It's really good!" Akizetsumei cheered, "Tou usually gets all this sorta stuff before I can so I never have the chance to eat stuff like this."

As she took a bite, she thought about it for a moment.

Akizets chewed, swallowed, and remarked as a side note: "It could really use some gravy, though."

[Zach Kaiser]

"Yeah...it's kind of odd that he doesn't eat meat." While he certainly liked tasty food and was known to indulge himself once in awhile, Eld's primary concern with meals was how healthy they were, and from a nutritional standpoint it made little sense to shun foods for any reason other than being allergic to them.

At her last comment, though, he couldn't help but say, "Gravy isn't something you normally put on a sandwich." It made a sort of bizarre sense when she'd put the mashed potatoes in the sandwiches, but why she'd put it on an all vegetable sandwich was beyond him.

"Though, they do have a really good roast beef sandwich that you're supposed to dip in some kind of meat juice," he mused. It wasn't something he ordered often, since it didn't come with any vegetables on it, just cheese, but it was nevertheless delicious.

[Nayt]

"But it's really good," Akizets replied, "Tou makes this really really great gravy for me. I could eat it on anything. Sandwiches, soups-- it's even really good on ice cream."

She took another bite from her sandwich and paused awhile to chew. Akizetsumei was extremely self conscious about this whole thing. Not the gravy discussion, but the whole talking with her mouth full thing. She kind of had a bad habit with that and knew that it was sort of disgusting to other people.

"I dunno, though," she thought aloud, accidentally talking with her mouth full, realizing it all too late, and quickly swallowing her food before continuing, "I don't really like a lotta meat, either. It's just, um, I dunno. Tou eats a lot of really good stuff. My dad's food is good sometimes, but not every-single-day-of-my-whole-entire-life, you know?"

As they talked, it became increasingly difficult to not overhear the two older gentlemen behind Akizetsumei. They were talking a little louder now, though not in an obvious way to talk over the two kids. Their conversation just seemed to take up some brand of loud agreement. They were talking about some sort of settlement a good distance to the southeast and seemed to be expressing their contempt for it. Akizetsumei lifted her eyebrows; she couldn't help but overhear a little, but quickly tried not to. Something told her she wouldn't like what these men were discussing.

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld tried his best to hide the mild disgust he felt at the thought of putting gravy on ice cream, and probably only half-succeeded. While far be it from him to try and tell people what to like and not like, he hoped at least she'd gain some sense of what was normal for other people. He didn't want to sound finicky, but there were only so many foods that gravy really sounded appetizing on.

"It's important to eat a variety of foods, so that you get all your nutrients," Eld responded. "Not eating a lot of foods will make it difficult to get everything your body needs, and eating too much of any one thing is never healthy, regardless of what it is. Even gravy," he added pointedly.

He tried his best to ignore the men sitting at the next table over; he hoped they quieted down, as from what little he could make out it wasn't a conversation he particularly wanted to be privy to.

[Nayt]

"But it tastes good," Akizetsumei protested with a pout.

She really didn't get that, either! Toushikyo always said eating too much meat was unhealthy, and that there were a ton of other alternatives that were much better for you. He also told Akizetsumei that putting a splash of gravy on things was unhealthy. He still made some for her every so often, but he always lectured her. Always with those lectures. Toushikyo was terrible with those.

Akizetsumei took another bite of her sandwich, and the way she shut her eyes and sat up prim and proper did more than enough to suggest direct defiance to Eld's mini-lecture, too. Of course, there was nothing rude about it-- not intentionally, at least.

That was a good distraction from the conversation behind them, but it could only last so long, as Akizetsumei soon heard a little slip of conversation.

"I don't know why they'd let them that close," one old man said to the other.

"I don't know why they don't just cage them up."

"I'm certainly going to keep my grandchildren inside when the sun sets . . ."

"That's good. I'll do the same. I don't even want to think about what'd happen if an umbra got a hold of one of my grandkids."

Akizets dipped her head down and raised her shoulders. She was pouting again, but she had her brow furrowed and eyes averted from Eld. From all possible points of focus, for that matter. She'd all but set the last half of her sandwich down. The conversation was upsetting her, and it was very obvious. She did not approve of racism under any circumstances, and was especially quick to get upset over the matter.

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her. He wasn't saying that she should give it up entirely, just that she should maybe rethink her desire to put in on everything. It wasn't any healthier than meat, after all. In any case, he was more amused by her reaction than anything.

However, it was difficult to keep smiling when the conversation those men were having got louder. Akizetsumei looked rather upset by it, and he wasn't too happy himself, though he probably would have just ignored it had he been by himself.

While he didn't want to create a scene by arguing with them, he hoped he could politely ask them to talk more quietly. "Hey," he said, trying to get their attention. "Excuse me."

[Nayt]

Eld's attempts of getting the attention of the two older men seemed to fall on deaf ears. Either they were hard of hearing or simply didn't register that Eld was talking to them, but . . .

"You're right, though," one of the older men remarked, "They should really just cage them. They're just animals, after all. Dangerous animals."

And then, Akizetsumei finally had enough. She'd been stewing the entire time she overheard the conversation between these two men-- stewing and stewing until she couldn't stand it anymore. She had a slight red tint to her cheeks, but it wasn't a blush of embarrassment or shame. She was simply getting angry and it made her face feel hot. Akizetsumei turned in her seat, showed her profile to Eld, and eyed the older man directly behind her, the one discussing cages and treating living, thinking people like animals.

"Hey!" Akizets called out, louder than Eld did.

She fully intended to get this man's attention. She wanted both of their attention on her. Akizetsumei had a naturally squeaky and chipper voice, but it seemed to lower a couple of octaves when she was sincerely upset. The man sitting closest to her looked back at her.

"That's really mean, what you're saying," she declared fearlessly, "Umbra have feelings, too. What would you feel if someone wanted to put you in cages, huh?"

She was accusative. She was defiant, headstrong, and capable of making a point-- and most of all, she was sincerely upset with someone. This would mark the first time Eld ever saw this emotion from the girl. She wasn't even being a brat about it, either-- not like the little hint of it when she seemed defiant of Eld's miniature lecture. No, this was something of a firm stance on a touchy subject, where she wasn't afraid of hurting someone's feelings if they were going to be jerks and toss around all their hateful opinions like that.

Akizetsumei did not care about all the bad rap that the Umbra received. They supposedly had some hand in that stupid Great Cataclysm that Akizets had to learn about in school, and there was something about these people called the Achrom that stopped them or something. Akizets didn't care about all that. She didn't even care that early settlements of Umbra were supposedly barbaric and ate human beings. They didn't do it now and they were just trying to carve a life out for themselves and that's all that matter.

Maybe, though, she'd have been less upset if that were all it was. If it was some sort of historical prejudice taught for generations, maybe that would have been forgivable, as it'd just be bad schooling and Akizetsumei knew bad schooling-- but Akizetsumei knew why people hated the Umbra. It had nothing to all of that. It was the way they looked and that was all. Just because these people had obsidian-black skin, red eyes, and some pattern of horns on their body (some even had claws)-- that didn't give someone the right to hate them. They were a civilized people and they lived, breathed, aged, and loved just like any human being before or after them.

The old man furrowed his brow at Akizets.

"It's rude to eavesdrop, young lady," was all he said.

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld was surprised as Akizetsumei's outburst. While he'd seen her express annoyance (mostly at her brothers), this was the first time he'd seen her be genuinely angry with someone.

Which wasn't to say that he disagreed with her. On the contrary, he really wanted to do the same thing. Alas, he knew that men their age weren't likely to change their minds for any reason, and that the best option for shutting them up was to politely let them know they were too loud.

However, when the one man talked down to Akizetsumei (even if rather mildly, all things considered), the polite approach ceased to exist. His eyes narrowed into a glare that he leveled at the men from over her shoulder. "It's hardly eavesdropping when you're talking loud enough for the whole place to hear you," he said coolly. "You're entitled to be bigots if you want, but I'd rather not hear about it if it's all the same to you."

[Nayt]

Even when the old man scolded her, Akizetsumei did not back down. She continued to look upon him with the utmost disapproval (which really wasn't all that intimidating, nor did it give someone that much incentive to stop their behavior; even when Akizetsumei was expressing how upset she was with someone's actions, she seemed to do it in a way that did not at all betray her otherwise cutesy and naive demeanor), and was unshakably upset with the way he was handling himself in public.

And it seemed Eld agreed with her.

The old man turned away from them both, prompted by Eld's glare and agreement with Akizetsumei, and said something to his companion across the table. It wasn't a few seconds before they got up and started away, taking their sandwiches with them, whilst discussing the youth of the world today-- or more specifically, attempting to pinpoint the exact moment in which the children of history became the delinquents of today.

With the disturbance gone, Akizetsumei turned to Eld again-- though this time, she no longer seemed upset, but very clearly saddened. Maybe even a little bit guilty.

"Ummm, I-- I'm sorry," she whispered, "I just . . . reallyreallyreally hate it when people talk about them like that. And everyone does it. It's so stupid."

[Zach Kaiser]

"No need to apologize," he assured her. "I'd had about enough of those two myself." Eld was raised to respect all sentient life; a doctor, according to his parents, was just as obliged to try and aid Umbra as humans. And while his mother seemed indifferent to them, his father was downright fascinated with their vastly different biology.

That was the exception rather than the rule, unfortunately. There was plenty of racism even among humans, and though Hillcrest was better than most in that regard with its mix of both Algerothian and Cizokian culture, distrust of Umbra was pretty widespread from what he knew.

"I don't see why everybody's so wary of the them. They think and feel just like we do, and I'm sure there are both good and bad Umbra just like there's good and bad humans."

[Nayt]

"Yeah!" Akizets said loudly.

She quieted herself soon after, though, if only to avoid receiving weird looks from the rest of the establishment. She'd already made her point, anyways. She sulked down as if she were getting ready to whisper some super high class secret to Eld, but relaxed and spoke calmly, instead.

"I feel the same way," she nodded in firm agreement, "There are Umbra kids just like me and you out there, and they have parents that care about them, and they'll grow up and have families to care about someday, too. There are Umbra grandpas that worry about their grandchildren being out too late. It's just stupid to think of them being so different than us just 'cause they don't look like us."

Eld would probably be able to tell by now that were there any subject that Akizetsumei of Terra actually had a strong viewpoint on-- and a strong empathetic response to --it was racism.

It wasn't long after that they finished their sandwiches and Akizetsumei paid for their meal. It wasn't that expensive and she was actually able to cover it all with her allowance. It didn't kind of reduce all of her allowance to nothing though, but she was too happy to have returned the favor for Eld to mention that. Besiiiides, Tou left change laying around sometimes. She'd just swipe some of that. It'd serve him right for doing the same to her all the time!

When they left, the marketplace was already getting quite busy, and the crowd was partly extending itself into their street. Akizets had to walk closer to Eld in order to avoid getting lost.

"S-sooo, um, I-- I got a question, ummm," Akizets trailed off as she thought about how to word it, "Wh-when, um, whendoyouthinkyou'dbefree togoswimming?"

[Zach Kaiser]

It didn't surprise Eld that racism was a big issue for Akizetsumei. Even as close to Cizok as they were, his family occasionally got racism, and he imagined if they weren't doctors they'd get a fair bit more. But the Terra clan was from a country much further away...he supposed there must be people in the village who still weren't comfortable with them.

He wondered if that was part of the reason Akizetsumei seemed so lonely sometimes.

Fortunately, her question put more serious issues out of his mind. "U-Umm...well, a-anytime, I guess. You should tell me the day before, though, so I know to get up early." If they were going all the way out to the lake, it was best they leave early so that they didn't get stuck in the forest at night like that one time...

[Nayt]

"Oh, umm, okay," Akizets paused to think about it.

What day was today, anyways? She tried to remember the date, but found it extremely difficult to. No day actually felt too terribly different to her. Different things happened, yes. There were many days that were better than others and there were some days that were absolutely excellent, but a Monday and a Tuesday felt kind of the same. It was like summer break used to be, in fact. The days passed by so quickly and it was hard to keep track of them.

"How about this weekend?" she asked.

This was fail-safe. If today was a Thursday, then "this weekend" implied tomorrow or the day after. If today was Sunday, then "this weekend" implied five days from now.

In actuality, just so happened to be Monday.

[Zach Kaiser]

"Okay, it's a d--p-plan."

He turned a little red, but chances were Akizetsumei wouldn't guess why even if she noticed. What was worse was that he wasn't sure why he was bothered by almost saying that; it was just an expression, after all. He'd been acting strangely recently, he felt.

"Geez, it's getting busy. Maybe someone's having a sale." This was half-serious, and half an attempt to distract himself from his previous line of thinking.