Sephiroth (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
silverterror) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
sunshineverse2014-07-13 12:27 am
silverterror) wrote in sunshineverse2014-07-13 12:27 am
[Closed] They were cute once
Where: Kirigakure
When: BGS 10
Notes: Adela and Sephiroth met cutely at least. Sort of.
Be nice to him while he's here. He's still recovering.
Adela couldn't help swallowing a little, peeking at the man from around the corner of her family's home. Her uncle had arranged for him to stay there with her while he was resting, and when he left with her parents he told her to be nice. But what was being nice to someone like him? She didn't know, only that she had to keep up her training and do her chores and make her parents proud. And she had to do this for a few days.
Needlessly said, the girl was nervous, barely able to breathe as the man she'd heard so much about was right there. It was really cool that she was getting to meet him, yeah! But... She felt so small then, like just a stupid kid. What could she even say or do to make sure that she wasn't annoying...?
The man in question was a teen. A teen who healed swiftly, but apparently no swiftly enough given the extent of his injuries after having been cornered in battle on his way out of his last mission. Usually, he had no trouble, but unfortunately, even he wasn't immune to the abilities of those more powerful and experienced than himself... no matter what kind of prodigy he might be hailed as. So here he was, expected to watch over a girl who was getting far more of a childhood than he ever had, for relatives who had never once bothered to show interest in him before.
He could already tell this little 'holiday' was going to be less than thrilling, and instead prowled the area, examining everything before padding off to the room that was to be 'his' for the duration of his stay, black clothes fluttering as he stalked by the girl's hiding spot.
"... Mr. Sephiroth?" Her voice came out more quietly than she had wanted it to, and she bowed her head a little before she tried to speak, "Do you, uhm... Do you want some tea, sir?"
There were a million things she wanted to ask. She wanted to know more about him, but it was just getting impossible to get the words out. It was... Kind of scary. Scarier than she thought it'd be.
He twitched, which caused a spasm of pain to run up his back, but he looked over his shoulder as though that wasn't the case at all, his strange feline shaped green eyes cold and focused... but curious. How often did children in the clan ever approach him?
Practically never.
"...It's Sephiroth. Not Mr. Sephiroth, or Sephiroth-san or sama, or anything else." It was a low murmur, and then he turned to go into the room he'd been headed for. "...I would like tea."
"... I'm allowed?" She blinked at that, a little flushed as she took it in. She'd been told by her parents to be really polite, and by her uncle to be careful, but... If he said that, it'd be okay right?
Wait! Tea! Right! "Is black tea okay? We also have some oolong. I-I'm not great at making it, but I can try!"
"Just... keep the water from boiling and it will work fine." He looked around the room, at a loss as he tried to figure out what to do with himself. He wouldn't have even taken this mission if he hadn't been forced onto downtime. He didn't do downtime. Downtime got people like him killed.
It didn't take long for her to get the water going, and she was careful about sifting the tea. She just made some of each to try and make sure she got it right, sipping a little and making a face. The oolong was always kind of bitter, she didn't really like that one much, but it kinda tasted like how her mom always made it so it was okay, right?
When she came in she set the tray on a desk almost too high for her, grunting a bit with her stretch to make sure that it reached enough and wouldn't fall over. That was before she paused, almost shyly speaking once more, "... You can use my name too, if you want, Sephiroth. It's Adela."
He had finally settled into starting to unpack his sword care supplies, unwilling to use those that belonged to someone else, and carefully set them aside so as to pick up his cup. "Adela." He was quiet for a beat, then huffed out a soft breath. "Is there something you wanted?"
Something she wanted? She blinked, unsure of herself and bowing her head a little. But, curiosity piqued and pushed against her nerves enough to force what she wanted to say out of her mouth, even though she wasn't ready to say it, "I'm really happy that you're here because I've really wanted to meet you for a long time! I think you're really cool and I wanna be a great ninja just like you!"
When the words were out it took her a second for her to make an 'eep' noise before she used both hands to cover her mouth, eyes wide and face flushed darkly. Oh no! She said it, she didn't want to say it just like that!
He stared at her for a very, very long moment, then huffed a breath and turned his gaze to his tea. "You cannot be a ninja like me, nor do you actually wish to be."
Huh? Her face fell at that, and she looked a little sad before asking, "Why not? I thought I could if I trained really hard..."
"Being a shinobi like me means having no sense of self. No meaning outside your missions. I promise you it is not worth it."
"... But there's no one like you. You're the very best of the very best," She just didn't get it. She held her chin in her hand, trying to think it over more as she continued, "There's nothing Sephiroth can't do. That he's the absolute pride of our village and our clan. I wanna be cool like that, and really strong like that. And able to use the family's technique, and be a master with kenjutsu - aren't those good things?"
"You want a name that labels you a terror to even those you consider family? Fine, have it. Be that. I will not help." He paused a moment, frowning at the tea before drinking the rest of the cup all at once. "The other things you say are not that. They're... softer."
"A terror? But I don't think you're scary."
"I am known as Kiri's Silver Terror, in fact." He watched her thoughtfully, leaning to set the cup down. "You hadn't heard it?"
"I think so, but uncle said that it was because you were so good at what you did. And a really great ninja wants his enemies to be scared of him doesn't he?"
"I know how to use the fear of my enemies against them." He nodded once, then finally moved over, collecting his supplies to start cleaning his long blade.
"Is that Masamune?" Her eyes practically sparkled as she watched him start to work, for the moment keeping her distance because she didn't want to make him angry. He actually seemed really nice though... Maybe he was just lonely because he thought everyone was afraid of him?
"Yes." He glanced to her. Unlike the seven swordsmen, there was nothing about his blade that was inherently helpful for jutsu. It was just a very long, very good blade, and he took care of it with that in mind, pressing his chakra carefully into the surface to mend any small damages it might have.
"It's beautiful," The words were spoken thoughtlessly as she stepped forward, still staying out of reach as she watched him start to clean it. And it seemed like some of the scratches were just going away - the family's technique. She had heard about it, but she'd never seen it before...
"It's way better than the swords at the forges..."
"It is a blade I made, to show my mastery... and no one else seems able to use it. I'm more than satisfied with that. No one can stab me with my own sword, that way."
"Can you show me how you use it?" Urk, wait, she forgot. The girl hung her head and rubbed the back of it, a little embarrassed at herself, "Uh... If you're not busy, when you're all better."
"I can practice my forms while injured. I simply should not use intensive jutsu or spar against resistance."
Adela couldn't help it. Her eyes lit up and she leaned on the bed, clearly excited at the prospect of seeing him action, "You'd really do that Sephiroth?"
"I have no intention of halting my skills in progress merely due to injury."
A little bit of a high noise left her and she grinned, jumping a bit on her heels before she hurriedly went for the tray to carry it out of the room, "When? I want to watch!"
"...I should probably eat first, but I see no reason not to do some this evening."
"Yeah! I can make up some rice for dinner, and steam some vegetables with soy sauce, if that's okay," All too eagerly she drank down the tea that had probably been sitting for too long, her eyes widening before she made a face at it. This was going to be great though! She was going to get to see Sephiroth in action, it was just so cool! And it didn't feel like he was looking down on her at all for it...
He peered at her a moment, then nodded, clearly taking her at her word that she was capable. Then again, he was used to his own cooking so... that likely had to do with it.
He'd likely hear some clattering in the kitchen, mostly because she was a five year old trying to cook in a kitchen clearly made for adults. She at least got the rice cooker going, and she was working on cutting the vegetables then. She had to cut them neatly, to make them nice and easy to eat. Make them all even, and be careful. That was what uncle had taught her was important with sword play... So it'd help when she trained later too, wouldn't it? Had to be careful not to cut herself...
He didn't bother to go check, instead very carefully working over the long blade, only putting her away when he was completely finished... because he was a teenager and he was starving. And she'd had plenty of time.
By the time he came she was just serving their food, blinking a couple of times before she nodded to him and set some chopsticks beside the bowls for his vegetables and rice. The rice was fine, but she wasn't sure if he'd like the vegetables. Rice was easy at least...
"It's time to eat," She murmured the customary words before starting to eat. The vegetables were a little hard, too crunchy... No, they weren't perfect like mom's. But she wanted to do them well... Maybe she took them out too early?
He didn't seem to care, and honestly... he didn't. It was food, and food he didn't have to make, so he started in on them anyway. Thus it was that he still managed to clear his portion... even if the vegetables were somewhat... resilient...
"... M'sorry, I didn't cook them well enough," She mumbled, picking up her cleared plate as well. She'd just have to try better next time. She knew they weren't great, the spices were okay but the veggies were too hard to taste good... It seemed like she almost forgot all about what had excited her so much earlier.
He peered at the child for a moment, clearly not caring, though he was baffled why she didn't realize that. Was she following some cue he... didn't know?
Again she struggled, using a stool to reach the sink so that she could clean up properly after they were done eating. She promised that she'd be on her best behaviour, so she wasn't going to make him do any of it... She could do this much herself.
"It would work better with a chair." He didn't care if they weren't exactly the sorts of chairs fit for getting wet either.
"... M'not supposed to use the chair," She shook her head, blinking at him before going back to scrubbing down the dishes they had used. She could do it if she focused...
"Are you still going to train tonight?"
"I was considering it." He watched her for a moment, looking at the way she was stretching.
That time she didn't look at Sephiroth, instead reaching to properly rinse off the plate - but she ended up dropping it in the sink because the water was too hot for her hand. Without thinking she made a noise of pain, shaking her hand before sticking the burnt portion in her mouth to try and soothe it. She wished mom and dad were there to help, that really hurt...
He frowned, then peered at her face and... yes the girl hurt herself in a way he just... never had. Baffled and fascinated at once, he moved over and pulled her hand from her face to look at it. "Your mouth won't help."
Her skin was a little reddened from the hot water and would likely leave a blister unchecked, and Adela blinked as he took her hand. That was before she used her free hand to quickly scrub at her eyes, having realized that it startled a couple of tears out of her before she shook her head, "It doesn't hurt, m'ok."
"You're burned." He gave her a frown, noted that he knew absolutely nothing about healing, and picked her up in his other arm to go searching for burn cream. Better she does not stick it back in her mouth, after all.
She eeped at getting lifted, stiff as he started to carry her around. Whatever squirming she did was minimal though, as she wasn't sure of just how to take it while he was doing it, "What're you doing?"
He set her down when he found where the medicine for these things were In their clan, who didn't have burn cream? Then he got it out and deftly opened it with his free hand to get some out to apply to the burn.
Briefly she tried to pull her hand back, wincing at how cold the cream was before sighing and letting him work. It almost tickled now that there wasn't the shock of it being cold, and it only stung a little bit while he was doing it, "Thank you..."
It was weird. She didn't think Sephiroth could be so gentle, not from the stories she'd heard...
She released her and put the cream back before giving her a narrow-eyed look. "Next time use the chair."
She winced, almost pouting at him but nodding, "Ok..."
Was she in trouble? It looked like he was mad...
Satisfied that she wouldn't put herself at risk, he moved back to the kitchen, peering into the sink before starting to pluck out the few dishes that were left to clean them.
It took her a bit to get out there again, almost shy in approaching him before she asked, "Can I help?"
"Dry. That won't wash away the cream before it finishes working."
Immediately she perked, nodding before darting forward and drying whatever dishes he had set aside. It was easy enough for her to reach them with just the stool, at least.
It made her a bit happier, him letting her continue helping. She didn't always like doing chores, but it made her think that he could at least trust that she could do that much. Maybe he wasn't mad?
He quickly fished the cleaning, making a stack for her to deal with before drying his hands off so he could go get his blade. "I'm going out presently."
"You are?" She blinked after him, pausing before she hurriedly kept trying to finish the drying quickly. Did he mean going out to train? No, she wanted to watch, he was going to leave without her!!
He took his time gathering his things, then headed outside without waiting. If she wasn't done, she'd simply have to catch up.
It was when he was a few steps out the door that she finished, flailing about a bit before she started to run towards him, calling out, "Wait for me!"
She almost tripped in her haste, flipping in the air before she landed on her feet and darted forward. She had received some training by then after all, even if it wasn't much.
He looked at her, completely nonplussed, then resumed his easy amble toward his preferred training area. It was one of the over water fields with many stilts.
Wow... Her jaw dropped a little at the sight, and she slowed her walking a bit before running to catch up. So did Sephiroth train at this place? She wasn't allowed to train there yet, not yet, none of the little kids were. It looked so cool...
Sephiroth looked at her, then jumped up onto one o the poles, balancing easily once he was there, blade loose at his side.
"Wow!" She couldn't help it, she was watching him with absolute admiration and awe as she perked up even more. He made such a jump look so easy, and she knew it couldn't be easy even for uncle to balance that quickly! She was finally going to get to see Sephiroth train...
He peered at the girl at the noise and gave a frown. It wasn't that impressive. He just shook it off, then started into his forms, deciding to ignore her until he finished.
Adela was quiet after that, watching as he went into his forms before she picked up a stick and started trying to copy what he was doing... Poorly. Some of it she got right, but she probably wasn't even close to effective with it. Still, it felt natural to use something like this over throwing weapons and anything else. It aggravated her hand a little, but she didn't care; she'd have to keep going if she wanted to be as good as Sephiroth someday!
Finally, he came to a halt, peering down at the child where she was attempting, horribly, to mimic. Hmph. What had they been teaching her? By the time he was her age they were gearing up to throw him out of the Academy. The hop down to the ground was more jarring, but he took care not to show it. "You need more practice."
"I know," She tried not to pout, straightening as she looked at him. Was he done already? "I'm not gonna get any better if I don't try. You have to keep going if you want to get any good at anything - and I wanna be as good as you someday."
He peered at her intently, then started back toward the house. "Don't forget that."
What did that mean? Again she blinked at him, tilting her head before darting forward to walk at his side again, the stick forgotten at the training site as she did so. It wasn't like a real sword, but maybe someday she'd have a sword as beautiful as Masamune... Maybe she'd get to spar with Sephiroth as an equal. Yeah, that'd be great.
"... Will you fight with me if I get good enough to?"
He slowed his steps, looking back at her. "If you can fight me without dying, I'll fight you."
Again she brightened, as if the promise had made her day - well, it had. And, again, she darted up beside him and callously reached to take his hand, intending to hold it as they went, "I'll get good enough! You'll see!"
His fingers twitched free of hers without any hesitation, and he caught her wrist to hold onto that to keep her from trying again. "Perhaps."
Huh? Confused at the move, she stumbled a bit to try and keep up with him - even if it was kind of uncomfortable to have him holding her wrist like that.
As the girl didn't question it, and he knew he wasn't hurting her, he didn't release her as he headed back, apparently finding nothing odd about his approach.
She didn't seem to notice some of the looks they were getting from clan mates - even a couple of the elders and the clan head, at some point. The looks they were getting made the girl nervous, and as much as she could she tried to hide behind Sephiroth as they went - she really didn't like how they looked.
That was before she noticed one of the elders beckoning her forward and calling for her to approach, and that had her stiff and hiding more before she bowed her head, lightly tugging at her wrist. She didn't want to go, but she'd be in more trouble if she didn't - even if it looked like she was in trouble already.
Sephiroth released her after a moment, displeased at the interference, but pausing in his steps as he refocused his attention.
Adela darted forward then, pausing some distance away as they began to speak with one another. It was quiet, careful so that they wouldn't be overheard - or at least the elder was, Adela was just plain quiet throughout the entire conversation. Eventually, she just nodded, with the elder doing the same before whisking away into the confines of the main house.
When she returned she was quiet, a little abashed as she held her hands behind her back and fell into step behind Sephiroth.
He narrowed his eyes, peering down at her. "You're stiff." He turned and strode away again.
There was a grimace before she jogged to keep up, biting at her lip. Should she tell him? The elder made it sound like she wasn't allowed... She hated the elders though. They were mean for no reason, most of the time. But if they were right...
"M'sorry for botherin' you. I'll try not to anymore."
"Those old idiots actually believe that you have a chance of keeping pace with me if I chose otherwise?"
"... They told me not to cause you trouble while you're at my house. And they said I had been already. I didn't want to cause you trouble."
"They're idiots. You're too unskilled at combat to be a complication."
"... They said you had better things to do than entertain a stupid little kid like me," The words were mumbled as she kept going, barely watching where she was walking and feeling more down on herself than anything. Did Sephiroth really think like that?
"As I said, they're idiots. Keeping you from observing a usable skill is a disservice to the village."
The words surprised her, and she blinked after Sephiroth before catching up, "I'm not bugging you?"
"You are now. You were less before they spoke to you."
"... I just really wanted to impress you, 'cause you're really cool," Again the words were quiet, but at least by then she was trotting up beside him by then. It'd take a little bit for them to get back at that pace, and she kept her eyes focused forward - if a little down. And, still, she didn't take her hands away from behind her back.
"You were more impressive before you listened to busybody morons who know nothing about me"
More impressive... Was she? Again she didn't know what to think, frowning and tightening her grip before letting her hands fall to her sides as they walked.
"... Can I call you cousin?"
"Why would you want to?" He frowned, looking sideways at her.
" 'cause we're family, aren't we?" It didn't seem like he was mad at her for asking, so she thought about it a bit more. Maybe cousin was too general, the whole clan were her cousins... "Cousin Sephy?"
He frowned down at her for that. Well... as close as he got to a frown with his tendency to not express. "....Sephy?"
"Sephiroth is really hard to say," She had so many issues not letting her tongue get tied over it and she had to focus so hard to get it right. It didn't seem like she got it wrong so far...
"... Is that bad?"
"Practice."
That time she frowned to herself, visibly thinking it over as she started mumbling it lowly to herself over and over, "Sephiroth... Sephiroth... Sephirossu... Sephiroth..."
He blinked slowly, then left her to it, heading up onto the porch of her house without any obvious concern.
She was poorly hiding her yawns as she continued forward, almost stumbling again before setting her shoes down properly and heading upstairs. She could put herself to bed, though she glanced to Sephiroth sleepily as she headed towards it.
"..."
But, at last again, she didn't want to say anything. She wanted to ask if she could be friends but... He said she was bugging him earlier. He wouldn't want to be friends, would he?
She could keep trying, though, he told her to keep trying with her training. Maybe it'd work for that, too.
"G'night."
He watched her for a moment, then huffed a breath. "Go sleep. Perhaps in the morning you'll be over the inflicted timidity."
"Over what? Inflicted what?" No, she wasn't going to stop until she knew what he meant. at least, she thought she wasn't, she was sleepy and if he closed the door on her she wouldn't force it either - even if she'd pout at him the next day until she knew.
"Being shy and less than forthcoming."
Less than what? She wasn't sure if she liked that, so she frowned, covering another yawn before just speaking, not really thinking about the repercussions, "Will you be my friend, Sephiroth...?"
He frowned at her, eyes narrowing a little. "I have no friends."
"I don't either," Again she looked away, unsure of what else to say and a little sad at that look. She said something dumb again didn't she? "... G'night."
She'd go to sleep then, closing her door softly before getting ready for bed. Why would he want to be friends with someone like her...
He huffed, then slipped off to coddle his blade a bit before settling down for the night. He didn't understand children.
When: BGS 10
Notes: Adela and Sephiroth met cutely at least. Sort of.
Be nice to him while he's here. He's still recovering.
Adela couldn't help swallowing a little, peeking at the man from around the corner of her family's home. Her uncle had arranged for him to stay there with her while he was resting, and when he left with her parents he told her to be nice. But what was being nice to someone like him? She didn't know, only that she had to keep up her training and do her chores and make her parents proud. And she had to do this for a few days.
Needlessly said, the girl was nervous, barely able to breathe as the man she'd heard so much about was right there. It was really cool that she was getting to meet him, yeah! But... She felt so small then, like just a stupid kid. What could she even say or do to make sure that she wasn't annoying...?
The man in question was a teen. A teen who healed swiftly, but apparently no swiftly enough given the extent of his injuries after having been cornered in battle on his way out of his last mission. Usually, he had no trouble, but unfortunately, even he wasn't immune to the abilities of those more powerful and experienced than himself... no matter what kind of prodigy he might be hailed as. So here he was, expected to watch over a girl who was getting far more of a childhood than he ever had, for relatives who had never once bothered to show interest in him before.
He could already tell this little 'holiday' was going to be less than thrilling, and instead prowled the area, examining everything before padding off to the room that was to be 'his' for the duration of his stay, black clothes fluttering as he stalked by the girl's hiding spot.
"... Mr. Sephiroth?" Her voice came out more quietly than she had wanted it to, and she bowed her head a little before she tried to speak, "Do you, uhm... Do you want some tea, sir?"
There were a million things she wanted to ask. She wanted to know more about him, but it was just getting impossible to get the words out. It was... Kind of scary. Scarier than she thought it'd be.
He twitched, which caused a spasm of pain to run up his back, but he looked over his shoulder as though that wasn't the case at all, his strange feline shaped green eyes cold and focused... but curious. How often did children in the clan ever approach him?
Practically never.
"...It's Sephiroth. Not Mr. Sephiroth, or Sephiroth-san or sama, or anything else." It was a low murmur, and then he turned to go into the room he'd been headed for. "...I would like tea."
"... I'm allowed?" She blinked at that, a little flushed as she took it in. She'd been told by her parents to be really polite, and by her uncle to be careful, but... If he said that, it'd be okay right?
Wait! Tea! Right! "Is black tea okay? We also have some oolong. I-I'm not great at making it, but I can try!"
"Just... keep the water from boiling and it will work fine." He looked around the room, at a loss as he tried to figure out what to do with himself. He wouldn't have even taken this mission if he hadn't been forced onto downtime. He didn't do downtime. Downtime got people like him killed.
It didn't take long for her to get the water going, and she was careful about sifting the tea. She just made some of each to try and make sure she got it right, sipping a little and making a face. The oolong was always kind of bitter, she didn't really like that one much, but it kinda tasted like how her mom always made it so it was okay, right?
When she came in she set the tray on a desk almost too high for her, grunting a bit with her stretch to make sure that it reached enough and wouldn't fall over. That was before she paused, almost shyly speaking once more, "... You can use my name too, if you want, Sephiroth. It's Adela."
He had finally settled into starting to unpack his sword care supplies, unwilling to use those that belonged to someone else, and carefully set them aside so as to pick up his cup. "Adela." He was quiet for a beat, then huffed out a soft breath. "Is there something you wanted?"
Something she wanted? She blinked, unsure of herself and bowing her head a little. But, curiosity piqued and pushed against her nerves enough to force what she wanted to say out of her mouth, even though she wasn't ready to say it, "I'm really happy that you're here because I've really wanted to meet you for a long time! I think you're really cool and I wanna be a great ninja just like you!"
When the words were out it took her a second for her to make an 'eep' noise before she used both hands to cover her mouth, eyes wide and face flushed darkly. Oh no! She said it, she didn't want to say it just like that!
He stared at her for a very, very long moment, then huffed a breath and turned his gaze to his tea. "You cannot be a ninja like me, nor do you actually wish to be."
Huh? Her face fell at that, and she looked a little sad before asking, "Why not? I thought I could if I trained really hard..."
"Being a shinobi like me means having no sense of self. No meaning outside your missions. I promise you it is not worth it."
"... But there's no one like you. You're the very best of the very best," She just didn't get it. She held her chin in her hand, trying to think it over more as she continued, "There's nothing Sephiroth can't do. That he's the absolute pride of our village and our clan. I wanna be cool like that, and really strong like that. And able to use the family's technique, and be a master with kenjutsu - aren't those good things?"
"You want a name that labels you a terror to even those you consider family? Fine, have it. Be that. I will not help." He paused a moment, frowning at the tea before drinking the rest of the cup all at once. "The other things you say are not that. They're... softer."
"A terror? But I don't think you're scary."
"I am known as Kiri's Silver Terror, in fact." He watched her thoughtfully, leaning to set the cup down. "You hadn't heard it?"
"I think so, but uncle said that it was because you were so good at what you did. And a really great ninja wants his enemies to be scared of him doesn't he?"
"I know how to use the fear of my enemies against them." He nodded once, then finally moved over, collecting his supplies to start cleaning his long blade.
"Is that Masamune?" Her eyes practically sparkled as she watched him start to work, for the moment keeping her distance because she didn't want to make him angry. He actually seemed really nice though... Maybe he was just lonely because he thought everyone was afraid of him?
"Yes." He glanced to her. Unlike the seven swordsmen, there was nothing about his blade that was inherently helpful for jutsu. It was just a very long, very good blade, and he took care of it with that in mind, pressing his chakra carefully into the surface to mend any small damages it might have.
"It's beautiful," The words were spoken thoughtlessly as she stepped forward, still staying out of reach as she watched him start to clean it. And it seemed like some of the scratches were just going away - the family's technique. She had heard about it, but she'd never seen it before...
"It's way better than the swords at the forges..."
"It is a blade I made, to show my mastery... and no one else seems able to use it. I'm more than satisfied with that. No one can stab me with my own sword, that way."
"Can you show me how you use it?" Urk, wait, she forgot. The girl hung her head and rubbed the back of it, a little embarrassed at herself, "Uh... If you're not busy, when you're all better."
"I can practice my forms while injured. I simply should not use intensive jutsu or spar against resistance."
Adela couldn't help it. Her eyes lit up and she leaned on the bed, clearly excited at the prospect of seeing him action, "You'd really do that Sephiroth?"
"I have no intention of halting my skills in progress merely due to injury."
A little bit of a high noise left her and she grinned, jumping a bit on her heels before she hurriedly went for the tray to carry it out of the room, "When? I want to watch!"
"...I should probably eat first, but I see no reason not to do some this evening."
"Yeah! I can make up some rice for dinner, and steam some vegetables with soy sauce, if that's okay," All too eagerly she drank down the tea that had probably been sitting for too long, her eyes widening before she made a face at it. This was going to be great though! She was going to get to see Sephiroth in action, it was just so cool! And it didn't feel like he was looking down on her at all for it...
He peered at her a moment, then nodded, clearly taking her at her word that she was capable. Then again, he was used to his own cooking so... that likely had to do with it.
He'd likely hear some clattering in the kitchen, mostly because she was a five year old trying to cook in a kitchen clearly made for adults. She at least got the rice cooker going, and she was working on cutting the vegetables then. She had to cut them neatly, to make them nice and easy to eat. Make them all even, and be careful. That was what uncle had taught her was important with sword play... So it'd help when she trained later too, wouldn't it? Had to be careful not to cut herself...
He didn't bother to go check, instead very carefully working over the long blade, only putting her away when he was completely finished... because he was a teenager and he was starving. And she'd had plenty of time.
By the time he came she was just serving their food, blinking a couple of times before she nodded to him and set some chopsticks beside the bowls for his vegetables and rice. The rice was fine, but she wasn't sure if he'd like the vegetables. Rice was easy at least...
"It's time to eat," She murmured the customary words before starting to eat. The vegetables were a little hard, too crunchy... No, they weren't perfect like mom's. But she wanted to do them well... Maybe she took them out too early?
He didn't seem to care, and honestly... he didn't. It was food, and food he didn't have to make, so he started in on them anyway. Thus it was that he still managed to clear his portion... even if the vegetables were somewhat... resilient...
"... M'sorry, I didn't cook them well enough," She mumbled, picking up her cleared plate as well. She'd just have to try better next time. She knew they weren't great, the spices were okay but the veggies were too hard to taste good... It seemed like she almost forgot all about what had excited her so much earlier.
He peered at the child for a moment, clearly not caring, though he was baffled why she didn't realize that. Was she following some cue he... didn't know?
Again she struggled, using a stool to reach the sink so that she could clean up properly after they were done eating. She promised that she'd be on her best behaviour, so she wasn't going to make him do any of it... She could do this much herself.
"It would work better with a chair." He didn't care if they weren't exactly the sorts of chairs fit for getting wet either.
"... M'not supposed to use the chair," She shook her head, blinking at him before going back to scrubbing down the dishes they had used. She could do it if she focused...
"Are you still going to train tonight?"
"I was considering it." He watched her for a moment, looking at the way she was stretching.
That time she didn't look at Sephiroth, instead reaching to properly rinse off the plate - but she ended up dropping it in the sink because the water was too hot for her hand. Without thinking she made a noise of pain, shaking her hand before sticking the burnt portion in her mouth to try and soothe it. She wished mom and dad were there to help, that really hurt...
He frowned, then peered at her face and... yes the girl hurt herself in a way he just... never had. Baffled and fascinated at once, he moved over and pulled her hand from her face to look at it. "Your mouth won't help."
Her skin was a little reddened from the hot water and would likely leave a blister unchecked, and Adela blinked as he took her hand. That was before she used her free hand to quickly scrub at her eyes, having realized that it startled a couple of tears out of her before she shook her head, "It doesn't hurt, m'ok."
"You're burned." He gave her a frown, noted that he knew absolutely nothing about healing, and picked her up in his other arm to go searching for burn cream. Better she does not stick it back in her mouth, after all.
She eeped at getting lifted, stiff as he started to carry her around. Whatever squirming she did was minimal though, as she wasn't sure of just how to take it while he was doing it, "What're you doing?"
He set her down when he found where the medicine for these things were In their clan, who didn't have burn cream? Then he got it out and deftly opened it with his free hand to get some out to apply to the burn.
Briefly she tried to pull her hand back, wincing at how cold the cream was before sighing and letting him work. It almost tickled now that there wasn't the shock of it being cold, and it only stung a little bit while he was doing it, "Thank you..."
It was weird. She didn't think Sephiroth could be so gentle, not from the stories she'd heard...
She released her and put the cream back before giving her a narrow-eyed look. "Next time use the chair."
She winced, almost pouting at him but nodding, "Ok..."
Was she in trouble? It looked like he was mad...
Satisfied that she wouldn't put herself at risk, he moved back to the kitchen, peering into the sink before starting to pluck out the few dishes that were left to clean them.
It took her a bit to get out there again, almost shy in approaching him before she asked, "Can I help?"
"Dry. That won't wash away the cream before it finishes working."
Immediately she perked, nodding before darting forward and drying whatever dishes he had set aside. It was easy enough for her to reach them with just the stool, at least.
It made her a bit happier, him letting her continue helping. She didn't always like doing chores, but it made her think that he could at least trust that she could do that much. Maybe he wasn't mad?
He quickly fished the cleaning, making a stack for her to deal with before drying his hands off so he could go get his blade. "I'm going out presently."
"You are?" She blinked after him, pausing before she hurriedly kept trying to finish the drying quickly. Did he mean going out to train? No, she wanted to watch, he was going to leave without her!!
He took his time gathering his things, then headed outside without waiting. If she wasn't done, she'd simply have to catch up.
It was when he was a few steps out the door that she finished, flailing about a bit before she started to run towards him, calling out, "Wait for me!"
She almost tripped in her haste, flipping in the air before she landed on her feet and darted forward. She had received some training by then after all, even if it wasn't much.
He looked at her, completely nonplussed, then resumed his easy amble toward his preferred training area. It was one of the over water fields with many stilts.
Wow... Her jaw dropped a little at the sight, and she slowed her walking a bit before running to catch up. So did Sephiroth train at this place? She wasn't allowed to train there yet, not yet, none of the little kids were. It looked so cool...
Sephiroth looked at her, then jumped up onto one o the poles, balancing easily once he was there, blade loose at his side.
"Wow!" She couldn't help it, she was watching him with absolute admiration and awe as she perked up even more. He made such a jump look so easy, and she knew it couldn't be easy even for uncle to balance that quickly! She was finally going to get to see Sephiroth train...
He peered at the girl at the noise and gave a frown. It wasn't that impressive. He just shook it off, then started into his forms, deciding to ignore her until he finished.
Adela was quiet after that, watching as he went into his forms before she picked up a stick and started trying to copy what he was doing... Poorly. Some of it she got right, but she probably wasn't even close to effective with it. Still, it felt natural to use something like this over throwing weapons and anything else. It aggravated her hand a little, but she didn't care; she'd have to keep going if she wanted to be as good as Sephiroth someday!
Finally, he came to a halt, peering down at the child where she was attempting, horribly, to mimic. Hmph. What had they been teaching her? By the time he was her age they were gearing up to throw him out of the Academy. The hop down to the ground was more jarring, but he took care not to show it. "You need more practice."
"I know," She tried not to pout, straightening as she looked at him. Was he done already? "I'm not gonna get any better if I don't try. You have to keep going if you want to get any good at anything - and I wanna be as good as you someday."
He peered at her intently, then started back toward the house. "Don't forget that."
What did that mean? Again she blinked at him, tilting her head before darting forward to walk at his side again, the stick forgotten at the training site as she did so. It wasn't like a real sword, but maybe someday she'd have a sword as beautiful as Masamune... Maybe she'd get to spar with Sephiroth as an equal. Yeah, that'd be great.
"... Will you fight with me if I get good enough to?"
He slowed his steps, looking back at her. "If you can fight me without dying, I'll fight you."
Again she brightened, as if the promise had made her day - well, it had. And, again, she darted up beside him and callously reached to take his hand, intending to hold it as they went, "I'll get good enough! You'll see!"
His fingers twitched free of hers without any hesitation, and he caught her wrist to hold onto that to keep her from trying again. "Perhaps."
Huh? Confused at the move, she stumbled a bit to try and keep up with him - even if it was kind of uncomfortable to have him holding her wrist like that.
As the girl didn't question it, and he knew he wasn't hurting her, he didn't release her as he headed back, apparently finding nothing odd about his approach.
She didn't seem to notice some of the looks they were getting from clan mates - even a couple of the elders and the clan head, at some point. The looks they were getting made the girl nervous, and as much as she could she tried to hide behind Sephiroth as they went - she really didn't like how they looked.
That was before she noticed one of the elders beckoning her forward and calling for her to approach, and that had her stiff and hiding more before she bowed her head, lightly tugging at her wrist. She didn't want to go, but she'd be in more trouble if she didn't - even if it looked like she was in trouble already.
Sephiroth released her after a moment, displeased at the interference, but pausing in his steps as he refocused his attention.
Adela darted forward then, pausing some distance away as they began to speak with one another. It was quiet, careful so that they wouldn't be overheard - or at least the elder was, Adela was just plain quiet throughout the entire conversation. Eventually, she just nodded, with the elder doing the same before whisking away into the confines of the main house.
When she returned she was quiet, a little abashed as she held her hands behind her back and fell into step behind Sephiroth.
He narrowed his eyes, peering down at her. "You're stiff." He turned and strode away again.
There was a grimace before she jogged to keep up, biting at her lip. Should she tell him? The elder made it sound like she wasn't allowed... She hated the elders though. They were mean for no reason, most of the time. But if they were right...
"M'sorry for botherin' you. I'll try not to anymore."
"Those old idiots actually believe that you have a chance of keeping pace with me if I chose otherwise?"
"... They told me not to cause you trouble while you're at my house. And they said I had been already. I didn't want to cause you trouble."
"They're idiots. You're too unskilled at combat to be a complication."
"... They said you had better things to do than entertain a stupid little kid like me," The words were mumbled as she kept going, barely watching where she was walking and feeling more down on herself than anything. Did Sephiroth really think like that?
"As I said, they're idiots. Keeping you from observing a usable skill is a disservice to the village."
The words surprised her, and she blinked after Sephiroth before catching up, "I'm not bugging you?"
"You are now. You were less before they spoke to you."
"... I just really wanted to impress you, 'cause you're really cool," Again the words were quiet, but at least by then she was trotting up beside him by then. It'd take a little bit for them to get back at that pace, and she kept her eyes focused forward - if a little down. And, still, she didn't take her hands away from behind her back.
"You were more impressive before you listened to busybody morons who know nothing about me"
More impressive... Was she? Again she didn't know what to think, frowning and tightening her grip before letting her hands fall to her sides as they walked.
"... Can I call you cousin?"
"Why would you want to?" He frowned, looking sideways at her.
" 'cause we're family, aren't we?" It didn't seem like he was mad at her for asking, so she thought about it a bit more. Maybe cousin was too general, the whole clan were her cousins... "Cousin Sephy?"
He frowned down at her for that. Well... as close as he got to a frown with his tendency to not express. "....Sephy?"
"Sephiroth is really hard to say," She had so many issues not letting her tongue get tied over it and she had to focus so hard to get it right. It didn't seem like she got it wrong so far...
"... Is that bad?"
"Practice."
That time she frowned to herself, visibly thinking it over as she started mumbling it lowly to herself over and over, "Sephiroth... Sephiroth... Sephirossu... Sephiroth..."
He blinked slowly, then left her to it, heading up onto the porch of her house without any obvious concern.
She was poorly hiding her yawns as she continued forward, almost stumbling again before setting her shoes down properly and heading upstairs. She could put herself to bed, though she glanced to Sephiroth sleepily as she headed towards it.
"..."
But, at last again, she didn't want to say anything. She wanted to ask if she could be friends but... He said she was bugging him earlier. He wouldn't want to be friends, would he?
She could keep trying, though, he told her to keep trying with her training. Maybe it'd work for that, too.
"G'night."
He watched her for a moment, then huffed a breath. "Go sleep. Perhaps in the morning you'll be over the inflicted timidity."
"Over what? Inflicted what?" No, she wasn't going to stop until she knew what he meant. at least, she thought she wasn't, she was sleepy and if he closed the door on her she wouldn't force it either - even if she'd pout at him the next day until she knew.
"Being shy and less than forthcoming."
Less than what? She wasn't sure if she liked that, so she frowned, covering another yawn before just speaking, not really thinking about the repercussions, "Will you be my friend, Sephiroth...?"
He frowned at her, eyes narrowing a little. "I have no friends."
"I don't either," Again she looked away, unsure of what else to say and a little sad at that look. She said something dumb again didn't she? "... G'night."
She'd go to sleep then, closing her door softly before getting ready for bed. Why would he want to be friends with someone like her...
He huffed, then slipped off to coddle his blade a bit before settling down for the night. He didn't understand children.