Looking for company - Takumi (open tag)

[fryn]

The morning had been... well, bizarre at best. That said, Takumi hadn't honestly expected the first day back after the shootings to be anything but bizarre. At best. The overall mood had been sombre - hardly a surprise either - and the rigorous security throughout the complex had been both necessary as well as completely unwanted. He knew why the new rules had been put in place but it made him feel more like a convict than a student. Of course, being Asian he was subjected to more searches than most other kids but it was better than a repeat incident taking place.Anything was better than that.

The morning classes had passed in something resembling a blur and Takumi was glad to hear the lunch bell sound. He wandered slowly back to his locker to get his bento which he carried outside. Well, he would have done so had he not been stopped for the fifth time so far that day.

"Let me see inside," the far taller figure stated and Taki opened his lunch container, showing the official what it contained. A flapped hand soon sent him on his way and he finally made it out into the open air.

He dropped down beneath a large tree, his appetite as good as non-existent. Still, he knew he needed to eat and so he pulled out a small pair of chopsticks and picked up a piece of sushi. Hopefully someone he knew would pass b as company was something he yearned for... and today more than ever.

[Evan Hughes]

Lunch time! Evan’s favourite part of the school day! Well, second favourite, after home time. He really liked home time. Lunch was easily his second favourite though, given his love of food. He wouldn’t discriminate, he would eat any food, as long as it wasn’t too healthy. It didn’t even matter too much if he couldn’t work out what the food was from sight, all went down the same way, he figured, and as long as it tasted good, he was set.

And lunch today consisted of a Babe Ruth, a Butterfinger and a warmish bottle of coke, stuff he happened to have handy in his locker. Ever since the shooting, the cafeteria gave him a little of the heeby jeebies and he preferred to eat elsewhere if he could. He was sure the heeby jeebies would fade eventually, but they were not a big problem, especially when he had such nutrient food to eat still.

Pulling out his phone, he sent his friends and girl a quick message, already plans in place, in his head anyway, for that afternoon. Shoving it in his pocket as he headed outside, a big grin crossed his face when he spotted one of his fellow planners from the previous week. “Taki!” he greeted enthusiastically, sitting down and pulling out a bar. “Is it alright that I call you that? Good to see you all in one piece after last week. It was wild.”

[fryn]

"Evan-kun! It's good to see you well also," he replied. "And yes, calling me Taki is great! My friends back in Osaka used that name for me and so it's good to hear it again here in the USA. Last week was indeed... ah... wild." Takumi wasn't entirely sure what 'wild' mean when used in this way but he assumed it was meant to describe the strange and inexplicable turn of events that had struck the entire town. "You know, I was thinking that maybe we should get everyone together again and have another adventure. Something fun and not so scary this time. I have a feeling we could all do with some fun to take our minds away from the shootings."

The only flaw in that plan was he didn't have a clue what form that fun would take as he was still getting to know the area and what it had to offer. "I saw a bowling alley the other day. Maybe we could all do that? Or I saw place called Motionz. Laser tag. That might be good... unless avoiding weapons of any kind is better." He drew in a deep breath, knowing the situation to be a very sensitive one. "Or karting. There is a track outside of town. What do you think, Evan-kun? Or is it too soon after what happened to expect anyone to be able to enjoy a day out? I still have to find Thad and make sure he's ok although Fallon tells me he's fine. We could ask him and his sisters as well as Izzy and Ezzie... Also Vic and anyone else who might be interested."

Takumi knew deep down they all needed to kick back and relax. Hopefully by the weekend they'd all feel more inclined towards doing precisely that.

[Evan Hughes]

“Brilliant idea!” Evan grinned enthusiastically, heartily slapping Takumi on the back. A bit of fun was exactly what everyone needed, and he couldn’t very well invite everyone to his house this afternoon for a bit of evil planning. So, non pranking fun it was! It wouldn’t be as fun and exciting as pranking someone, but it’ll still be pretty cool, he figured.

Laser tag was almost the best fun after pranks, but Taki had a point, maybe it was a good idea to stay away from guns for the time being, whether real or fake. “Bowling would be great! Brit works there, uh, Brittany, my girlfriend. Maybe she could help us sort something out. Though karting is awesome fun too!” Evan loved go-karts, he got to drive away semi-fast into inanimate objects. Well, he wasn’t meant to drive into objects, and other carts, but for someone no one had the heart to tell an overenthusiastic Evan behind the wheel of a kart / weapon that.

He had another thought though, a practical one, which was a bit unusual for him. “Oh, but what about the people who got hurt, are bandaged up?” he wondered aloud. “There’s this one guy, Dare, who’s got a cast. Not everyone might be able to manage the carts. They could watch, but that’s not much fun.” he shrugged, trying to come up with something everyone, injured or not, could do. Which he wasn’t having much luck with, everything he liked to do often led to injury after all.

“Suppose bowling then? Or we could just get everyone together and grab something to eat, then head to the movies or something?” Evan suggested. The mention of food reminded him that he was hungry, and luckily he still had his Babe Ruth clenched in hand, so he took another bite, not exactly waiting to swallow it before he spoke again. “But we can just make it a big open invite, get as many people coming as possible. Suppose everyone could bowl.”

[fryn]

"Sugoi!" enthused Takumi when he heard Evan's response. He wasn't sure if he was moving too soon after the disaster of last week but he had a feeling they would all benefit from some fun. Never to forget but hopefully starting to heal. "Bowling would e good. Maybe we can even get something to eat afterwards? I'm not sure what films are showing at the moment," he admitted with a wry smile. "Osaka tends to be a good 3 months behind the rest of the world when it comes to movies!"

Takumi picked up another piece of rice-encased sushi and took a bite. His mother knew what she was doing when she cooked, that was for sure. "I can ask the few people I know," he continued. "That should take me all of two minutes as I can count them on the fingers of just the one hand. You ask yours too and if they all in turn ask their friends we should have plenty of people in the end."

The plan was forming well and Taki sat back in satisfaction, glad that Evan had joined him for lunch. Between them they should be able to get the evening arranged and - with luck and a strong tail wind -everyone should be able to have a good time.

He dug out his phone and sent texts to the people he knew, asking them to pass on the open invitation.

"Soo... Brittany, eh?" Takumi grinned. "I didn't know you have a girlfriend. What is she like? Does she attend this school? And have you been seeing her for long?" Prying? No... more like interested.

[Evan Hughes]

“Sweet, sounds good mate.” Evan agreed. “Bowling, food, and then maybe a movie for anyone still up for it? Don’t know myself what’s out though, I usually don’t pay attention to most of the movies. Cause a lot of them that come out now are like romantic comedies, and I like my horror, but I’m not going to put myself through that.” he told Takumi with a grin. “Besides, I’ve got an awesome DVD collection. Plenty to watch.”

He watched his friend send a text but didn’t bother doing the same. He could tell everyone that afternoon at his house, and anyone he didn’t tell then would find out soon enough. He was just the type to run around the school, screaming the invitation. The more people the better after all. Evan was at his best in a crowd of people.

He couldn’t wait though, was just what everyone needed. He wondered if he should invite Aly. She probably wouldn’t want to go, but she had been getting all chummy with Brit lately, and girls were impossible to understand, so maybe he should ask anyway. Brit would know, he figured, he would talk to her about it. Bowling was going to be great though. Evan wasn’t really that much of the competitive type, he preferred to just make people laugh, and if it meant acting stupid and hamming things up a bit, then he was kind enough to make that sacrifice.

He didn’t mind all the questions about Brittany. Gave him more of a chance to talk after all. “Um, let’s see...” he grinned, trying to remember all the questions, before starting to count out on his fingers, “We’ve been dating for like, a month and a half, I think. Yeah, she goes here, you probably would have seen her around. She’s got bright red hair, well, her sister pulled a mad prank last week and it ended up blondish.” he chuckled. He had to give it to Aly, she sure pulled a cool trick. The cheerleader outfit really did it for him though. “She’s in a band, The Rioters, she’s the singer. She’s pretty cool.” he grinned, all this talking her up getting him really looking forward to seeing her in the afternoon. “What about you Taki? Have you got a girlfriend, anyone you’re interested in?” he asked, playfully nudging his shoulder.

[Dare Madison]

Dare couldn't face going back to the cafeteria, so he had his driver pick him up some take out at his favorite Chinese restaurant. It was practically cold by the time it went through security and he stumped down to the office on his crutches to claim it, but it was better than facing the mostly empty room and its horrible memories. He hadn't seen Phil or Mew all day so he just headed outside to catch some sun. He noted Evan sitting near a tree and waved enthusiastically and headed in that direction. He had brought some pictures of Sabbath the boa and Rufus his puppy to show him or anyone else that had expressed an interest in them on Thursday night.

"Hey is it alright if I sit with you? I will need help getting up after though. This cast makes my life difficult lately," Dare said, smiling hopefully. "Wait... am I interrupting? If I am, I will go sit somewhere else. I don't want to be a pain." He didn't want to presume on one conversation that they were friends. He had done that with Phil and after the coldness Phil had shown him since the shooting, he was trying to be a lot more careful. He understood Phil was grieving and he wasn't angry, he had just learned a lesson.

[fryn]

"She sounds fun and I look forward to meeting her... and seeing her hair!" Taki replied. "But as for me?" He shook his head. "No, I don't have a girlfriend... but it would be nice to have someone special. I have a lot of friends that are girls but... " He shrugged ruefully. "None of them seem interested in anything more. Then again, I haven't been here for even 2 weeks yet so perhaps I am not giving myself enough time." Taki grinned back at Evan. "I think I am just impatient," he finished with a laugh.

He glanced up from his bento when a shadow fell across him and he squinted up at the new arrival. A boy he didn't know by name but he'd seen him aroundd school. "No, please," Takumi stated when the boy offered to sit elsewhere. "We are just discussing girls and what to do at the weekend. I'm Takumi," he added. "Takumi Yoshino. We'd be honoured to have you sit with us," he said with his characteristic politeness, accompanied by a miniscule tip of his head. "Do you need some aid to sit?" he asked in some concern, half scrambling to his feet in case that offer was answered by an affirmative.

[Dare Madison]

Dare smiled widely. "Help would be useful. Down is easy, but I admit the jolt at the bottom causes a certain amount of pain," he blushed and gave the Asian his arm to guide him to sitting. "I'm Dare Madison by the way. I am a Junior here at Gould. He looked much younger than that so he tended to tell people at the beginning so they wouldn't have any shocks later on.

"Girls... ummm no, I have met a few I think are really nice, but I don't really roll that way," Dare admitted, having decided he couldn't live the rest of his life in the closet. "And no there is no great guy in my life either. I am finding it hard to make friends, let alone meet a significant other." He managed to get that out without making it sound self-pitying though.

Dare opened the plastic bag and opened a styro foam container. "Anyone want a spring roll?" he asked and opened it and set it between them all and grabbed one for himself. He adored spring rolls and could make an entire meal of them, but he had gotten vegetable lo-mein as well.

[Evan Hughes]

“Sure, none of them might not seem interested. But you might not seem interested to them. So they might be interested, but think you’re not, so seem not interested. Uh, does that make sense?” Evan chuckled. It made sense to him, in his head anyway. Actually, he thought it sounded kinda smart, but he wasn’t going to say that. “So maybe just let one of them know you’re interested? Just bite the bullet and ask a girl out. Worked for me.” he laughed. “Yeah, being patient is boring, go for it.”

“Dare!” he greeted enthusiastically, watching as Taki helped him down. He wouldn’t have picked Dare for being gay, but it didn’t bother him, not in the slightest. Nothing much really bothered Evan. The declaration about finding it hard to make friends surprised him a little. That was something he’d never had trouble with. Probably because he would talk to practically everyone, so sooner or later, some of them would start talking back, and whoila, friends! He was never the shy type, and besides he got too bored without company of some sort, so he got good at talking everyone he bumped into, figuratively, and in Ryo’s case, literally.

“Don’t tempt me. I might try to set both of you up with someone on the weekend. And you don’t want me to play matchmaker.” Evan laughed, eyeing the spring rolls with keen interest. Throwing his empty chocolate wrapper into his bag, at Dare’s offer he pounced enthusiastically, grabbing one and shoving the whole thing into his mouth. “Love ring rills.” he mumbled with a full mouth and a wide grin.