17 | dream video: setting moon

[spiria]

[ Kohaku's dream is set in the back yard of a small house. There are a few backyard toys littered around the area, though they're left ignored for the time being. There's a familiar female voice counting down backwards somewhere. She reaches the final number and turns around. If it weren't obvious before, it's obvious now; the woman doing the counting was Kohaku.

She's got a different set of clothes on; a short-sleeved shirt, a long skirt, and a half-apron. Her hair is pulled back into a single ponytail instead of the usual low pigtails she usually wears. She looks as though she had been doing some work around the house prior to this event, and she's a little weary ... but she looks happy, otherwise. ]

Ready or not, Here I come!

[ She calls out, loud enough for anyone else in the area to hear. There's the sound of a small giggle coming from an area to the left, but Kohaku only smiles and pretends not to hear it. ]

Let's see ...

[ She puts on a small act of looking in all the wrong places. ]

Where, oh where could my Dona and Iola be?

[ There's the sound of young girls giggling from areas on both sides of the backyard now. She knew exactly where they were. She was just going to drag this out a little longer, for their sakes. ]

Nope, not here ...

[ She checks in another place. ]

Not here, either ... you girls are so good at this game!

[ She starts heading over toward one of the places where she knew one of the girls were hiding. A tiny little girl, a brunette with amethyst eyes, clamps her hands over her mouth as Kohaku approaches. ]

I wonder what's over heeeere .... Aha!

[ The young girl, Iola, squeaks a little and darts out from her hiding place, laughing as she runs away from Kohaku, who laughs with her and promptly chases her around the backyard. ]

Dona! Dona, help! Mama found me!

[ At the call of her twin sister, Dona pokes her head out from behind a tree on the other side and giggles at the sight, rushing over to be a distraction. It "works": Kohaku intentionally pulls her attention on her other daughter, now, who had her black hair and her father's gray eyes. Kohaku laughs a little more, then finally manages to succeed in grabbing Dona and hugging her tightly. ]

Gotcha!

Eee! Sissy, run awaaay!

Nooo, Dona!

[ Kohaku reaches out and grabs Iola's hand just as she tries to run away again, pulling her other daughter close and hugging them both. ]

Mama wins again ~

Let's play again! Mama, can you be it again?

I don't see why not!

[ She lets go of both of them. ]

Go hide, I'll go count.

[ With that, both girls, no older than six, go to hide again. Kohaku returns to her counting place, covering her eyes and beginning to count down from 10 again ... ]


( ooc: Leaving it open-ended! If you want to have your character interact with Kohaku in her dream (hide and seek, anybody?), please specify that in your subject header. If you're interacting with her via SFC (or action, in some cases), please specify that, too. )

Comments

action | dream

[oursomalink]

[ There's a long pause here as Shing blinks, looking around in confusion. What...?

Oh, well... this is kind of surprising, really. He finds himself drawn into the dream more, and... if anything, his confusion only grows as he approaches Kohaku... was she older? She had to be, obviously...

She still looked as lovely as ever, though. There was the faintest trace of a smile on his expression as he looks around, watching the little girls hide... was this of dreams to come?

... was he included in those dreams?

...

He hoped so. He really hoped so.

There's a quiet sigh as he leans back against the wall to watch for a bit; he doesn't want to disturb them just yet... ]

action | dream

[spiria]

[ She doesn't notice Shing at first, because she's busy counting down. She finally finishes, though, and looks around for any sign of her little girls.

That is when she spots Shing.

There's a shocked expression on Kohaku's face for a moment ... but she seems aware that she's in a dream. She sees the younger form of her husband and smiles, putting a finger to her lips and pointing in the direction that Dona is hiding in. The little girl had given herself away pretty quickly with a sneeze, which Kohaku casually pretended not to hear at first.

She then quietly snuck her way over toward that direction. ]

I think I'm getting closer ... I wonder, where, exactly, are my girls?

action | dream

[oursomalink]

[ Oh. Oooooooh.

Shing's not sure what to make of the shocked face, but he eventually decides to play along as his eyes spot where Dona was hiding--

--her daughters were named after his and her moms? That was... kind of cute, actually.

He nods, smiling as he went in another entirely different direction this time... what's he doing?

he's totally looking for Iola, shush ]

action | dream

[spiria]

[ Well, yes. Her daughters are named after the mothers of her and her husband. Hint hint. It was only right, after all. She spots him and grins. Good, he's getting the hint. They'll team up on the girls. She creeps up over to where Dona is ... aaaaand ... ]

I ...

Found a Dona!

[ The little girl squeaks and laughs, running around with her mom chasing her, much like how her sister had done only moments ago. ]

action | dream

[oursomalink]

[ Oh, that's cute...

Anyway, Shing can't help but smile before he spots the other little girl hiding... and he approaches. Quietly. ]

...

So who do we have here?

[ FOUND YOU, IOLA. 8D; ]

action | dream

[spiria]

[ Iola's eyes widen as she sees someone else approach her, and she's surprised for a moment ... but then she grins, widely, turning and running out from her hiding place and trying to incite Shing to chase her. ]

DADDY'S GONNA GET MEEEE!

[ The children seem to see Shing as their father. The older Shing who they had grown up knowing and seeing every day. Only Kohaku seems to be aware that she's dreaming and sees Shing as how old he actually is, but she likes this dream too much to want to wake up just yet. She's having fun chasing her daughters around right now. ]

Shing! Let's team up and capture them!

action | dream

[oursomalink]

All right, I got this!

[ Ohohohoho! This is going to turn into a mini-chase all around the house, isn't it? Though goodness, they're... energetic, aren't they. ]

I'm gonna get you~!

action | dream

[spiria]

[ Both girls squeal and laugh, feigning fear for their lives as they're chased by both parents now. Finally, Kohaku manages to snatch Dona up and hug her tightly. ]

One down!

[ Iola is still running, meanwhile. ]

Daddy's not gonna get me!! I'm gonna run faster!

[ Kohaku laughs with Dona as they watch the chase. ]

Run, Iola, Run!

Yeah! Run, Iola!

action | dream

[oursomalink]

Oh, no, you don't!

[ And Shing's definitely running faster, grinning as he lunges forward to catch her--!

Does he succeed? ]

action | dream

[spiria]

[ He succeeds! Iola laughs more and tries to wriggle out of her father's arms. ]

Nooo! I tried to run away!

We both got caught!

Yep! You're ours now! We're holding you girls hostage!

[ There's another squeal and laugh as Kohaku starts to tickle Dona. ]

M-Mama stoooop!

action | dream

[oursomalink]

Nope~! Not at all.

[ Oh, now he's grinning more impishly as he starts tickling Iola in kind.

So much derp in this family amirite? ]

action | dream

[spiria]

[ Now they've got both girls laughing and begging their parents to stop tickling. Eventually, Kohaku relents and simply settles for hugging Dona. She rests for a few moments, then lets her go. ]

Dona, Iola, go inside and play for a while. I need to talk with Daddy for a bit, okay?

Okay ...

Dona, let's go make a sheet fort!

Don't forget to clean that up this time, okay?

[ The words just came out of her mouth, as though they were natural. Kohaku was aware of the entire thing being a dream, and yet, she felt as if she were living this every day. It was ... strange.

Once the girls are gone, she looks to Shing. ]

... So.

[ Awk-waaard. ]

action | dream

[oursomalink]

... yeah.

[ A pause as Shing just looks around after letting Iola go, a... very confused frown on his face as he turns to look at Kohaku.

... er, older her. Yeah. Though he does note she got much lovelier with age, even though she's already perfect now...

Pushing that thought aside, he scratches the back of his head before he asks about the cause of this. ]

... curse?

action | dream

[keepsthefire]

[Hey. Kohaku. There's a little brother, creepin' on your dream.

Okay really he's just watching, but he's being awfully quiet about it.]

action | dream

[spiria]

[ She actually doesn't realize Rin's there at first, and spends several moments after counting down again to look for her girls ... and then she looks up and sees Rin.

Well ... it made sense. Rin was important to her. Of course she would dream of having him here, too. And with Kohaku aware that she's dreaming, she recognizes him. She quickly, quietly makes her way over toward Rin. ]

... Rin?

[ Her tone is quiet, so the girls don't know that she's distracted just yet. ]

action | dream

[keepsthefire]

Hey...

[He gives her a smile, but it's strangely sad.]

Cute brats...

action | dream

[spiria]

[ she smiles back at him, poking his cheeks a bit. ]

They're called children, Uncle Rin.

[ ... but if this were real, she wouldn't recognize Rin as their Uncle. She knows that, and it's the reason why her own smile is sad as she returns it. ]

action | dream

[keepsthefire]

[He figured as much.]

Kids are brats. I can call 'em that if I wanna.

action | dream

[spiria]

Children are beautiful little miracles. [ There's a huff here and hands on her hips. ]

... though I guess they can be brats sometimes. Then again, so can you, little brother.

action | dream

[keepsthefire]

Heh. Yeah, I know...

... looks like you're doin' pretty good, Kohaku.

action | dream

[spiria]

Well ... this is only a dream. Maybe it's just that I want to be doing well later on in life.

[ She looks back toward where the girls are ... and they're finally catching on that their mom is taking a while, and is distracted. Dona and Iola both poke their heads out from their hiding places. Kohaku turns around and shoots them a quick time out sign. ]

action | dream

[keepsthefire]

[Rin keeps back, trying to stay out of sight. He doesn't belong there, and he'd rather not upset them, even if it is a dream.]

Still a good dream... [he says after they scamper off again. There's something in his voice that hints at something that almost sounds like envy.]

action | dream

[spiria]

[ She looks at him quietly for a few moments, a sad look overtaking her features ... after all he's been through lately, he deserves some happy times, right? Kohaku takes his hands and tugs him toward the backyard. ]

Come on. I'm sure the girls would want to meet their Uncle Rin.

[ Besides ... when would they ever get a chance like this again? ]

action | dream

[keepsthefire]

[The second he starts getting pulled, he also starts protesting and trying to resist, but dream or not he doesn't want to yank away and possibly hurt her.]

What-- n-no, I shouldn't--... Kohaku I don't belong here!

action | dream

[spiria]

[ She's getting in your face now. ]

Rin Okumura! This is my dream. And in the future I want, you are absolutely a part of it!

[ Kohaku looks at him sternly. ]

Blood related or not, you're my baby brother, and you should be able to meet your nieces. Even if this is a dream.