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Post by ollieandprocopius on Aug 27, 2022 12:36:31 GMT
Ollie sniffed, his eyes planted firmly at his feet as his shoes crunched along the leaves and twigs of the forest path. He hadn't even waited to go get Procopius from the spot outside the school where they usually met up after class. It was barely past noon and he just needed out of that school before it killed him.
In a single day he had gotten shoved over at least three times by three separate packs of giggling idiots, gotten back three mediocre grades on assignments he knew he'd done close to perfectly for any bullshit reason the teacher could think of, and as usual, had his concerns about both blown off by a teaching staff who assumed he was just some gaijin who didn't belong there in the first place despite the fact that Japan was the only home he had ever known.
He had to get out, find a release for the stress before it killed him and before he started taking some of Procopius' more violent "advice" to heart. He loved the gangster digimon who had become like a brother to him but the advice of "It wouldn't be easy to run their mouths with a few broken teeth or their jaws wired shut." Wouldn't be the most helpful thing in the world in a system that was already against him just for existing as satisfying as it sounded like it would be in the moment.
He wouldn't be gone long enough to worry Procopius anyway, he'd sneak back into school at some point before the day was over, he just needed to clear his head before it all came toppling down over him and he snapped.
The sensation of kicking something solid brought him out of his stupor, a potted plant jiggling a bit from the impact before settling back into its space. Ollie picked up his head, pulled out of his internal monologue and suddenly his eyes opened wide at the spot that he had seemingly stumbled into.
it was a bus, settled out here god knows how far into the forested paths, away from the places where most people tended to travel and shaded by the canopies of interconnecting trees high above. All around were thing in growth and little personal touches that made it clear that this place was not only actively inhabited, but it was being looked after by someone who wanted to make this place a home, not just a shelter. There was even a water tank and a generator hooked up to the back of the vehicle the same way a boiler would be hooked up to a house.
Ollie stepped up to the door and pushed it open, sliding the fold, mechanical door to one side and stepping up into the skinny entryway where he climbed a short staircase and entered into the larger space beyond. The fresh air billowed through the open windows and made the inside of the vehicle perfectly cool and comfortable. It was like something out of a Ghibli movie.
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Post by Daichi on Aug 27, 2022 13:18:52 GMT
Coming from a Ghibli movie probably isn't quite wrong either. The bus is decorated with personal touch that would bring a childish glee from heart of anyone who saw it. The first thing to greet Ollie when he came inside would be a small table where the driver seat would have been. A book laid on top of it, wiith the a sign "Tell me about your day!" on top of it. The book is thick and open, with each pages containing a personalized journal like entry. The journal is written like a letter, with each prefaced with "Dear Dad". On the open section, the right part of the page is still empty, suggesting that the owner either just penned this yesterday or today.
Should he peered in further, he would be face to face with a lounge. There's a comfy sofa with several pillows, overhanging bookshelves with books pertaining to nature, animals, plants, and even gardening. There is also a well taken care of bonsai on a desk near the window of the left side of the bus... to those who knows, it's probably a sakura bonsai, looking at the bark. As they're now currently in summer, however, it's hard to tell with none of the flowers blooming. Behind that desk however is a rack of well secured herbariums. Flowers of different colors, being submerged in the water... with how lights hit it, it looked almost like gemstones.
There are no TV in that lounge, but there is a kitchen, which is directly after the lounge. The dishes are well cleaned for, and it's seem that someone just made their lunch, looking from the half eaten plate of pasta with side of onion soup and meatballs. Come to think of it, there are tomatoes and herbs growing outside.
....And then, finally, at the furthest end, is a small bedroom. It's only for a single person... and whoever the owner is.... he's currently napping on the bed. Blond hair, anime like clothes... half of his face is obscured by a heavy book he was reading....
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Post by ollieandprocopius on Aug 28, 2022 12:22:41 GMT
Ollie was enraptured by the space, he'd never seen anything like it. He was used to the life of an orphan within the orphanage system, and he got the short end of that stick fairly regularly. A dozen kids crammed into a room, overworked apathetic staff that barely gave a damn and certainly couldn't care less about him in particular. It was almost heartbreaking for him to see a space like this, so whimsical, so well cared for, it screamed of a sense of freedom and comfort that he had only knew a precious few moments in his entire life. A short wave of anger rolled over him, jealousy at whatever person was able to live this kind of life while he was stuck at the bottom of the ladder.
The feeling faded however when he actually laid eyes on his "host". The boy was around Ollie's age, maybe a little younger even if he evidently lived a much more active lifestyle than Ollie did considering he was in noticeably better shape. The racks on racks of books that surrounded the space also put Ollie at ease, this was the kind of place he would always dream of having, a place where he could actually feel safe as he studied and learned and found ways to share what he'd learned with the world.
It was only after all of that internal struggle that he remembered that he was very much trespassing into this little slice of heaven that he had found, and considering how his interactions with people his own age mostly went and the fact that finding a random stranger standing over you while you slept was the definition of weird and creepy he tried to back up, turn around and leave the young man to his nap.
Unfortunately Ollie's less than stellar physical fitness betrayed him yet again as he tripped over his own feet while trying to turn around and end up loudly and suddenly thumping against the floor, his backpack making the landing hard enough that the entire vehicle shook with a heavy rattle that only made the sound cascade.
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Post by Daichi on Aug 28, 2022 14:58:19 GMT
Sleepy... he felt so sleepy... and hot honestly. It's summer after all but lately it's just very hot around this time. That's why he decided to turn on the generator and blasted the AC some. It's better here than the house where he had a tense spat with his mother. Someone had just thought that he was a nice, rich prey to bully around so they can get him to buy them food from the cafeteria... He was polite but firm, telling them that he don't really have any reasons to share his money with strangers, much less that suddenly came going buddy buddy with him... Then they mentioned things about his parents, how it must be nice to have a rich mother (not wrong, but still. He was still smiling wryly and wondering which teacher that he have to contact for this)... and one just have to press one button too far, mentioning "it must be nice having a trust fund from your father's death huh? How much did you get?"
...Before they could even finish that sentence however, the blond haired boy was practicalling pulling their head down to his knee, breaking their nose. He wasn't a violent kid, mind, but there are just THINGS that you're not supposed to say. It got heated really quickly, and his friends had to hold him back while he practically trying to murder this older kid. The fight was broken by a third year senior who was... practically built like an iron vault. He was smiling but there's a scary pressure in how he talked. He made the second year seniors shut up almost immediately.
...well, anyway, that would explain why he's currently suspended. His mother was not happy, even after hearing the excuse. "You should control yourself better!" she would tell him. In here he might have crossed the line too, saying "if the situation were to be flipped around, dad would have been proud of me for defending you!". He than ran away, to his secret base. He spent last night here. His sister called this morning to ask where he is, and he confirmed that he's in the bus. She was the one who cooked the spaghetti and meatballs.
"There are true things that you shouldn't say, but I wouldn't blame you for getting heated at those kids. It's wrong, but I can see why you do it, Dai. Well... you should come home tonight though, less Mom called the cops to force you back home. Despite her cold exterior she cares a lot for you, you know?" his sister, Lily, told him. Of course he knew that, but it's painful to not have an ally who understood why he did it to begin with. He wanted to be understood that he's not a bad kid. He's already hurting, why must he be treated like some troublemaker?
In this tranquil place, he was dreaming of the time he was stargazing with his father.... The telescope isn't here of course due to how expensive it is. If it can be stolen... well, he'd rather not think of that...
It's a dream his heart told him. It's a dream and he knew it. But even then he took solace in it. A small tear rolled down his eyes when--- The sound of something falling hard and the shaking of the bus woke up up. The book practically launched from his face. The heck!?
He grabbed a baseball bat, mostly as a self defense when he saw... someone practically lying on the ground? ........From the look of it, he's slightly older, but he never saw this one kid before...
Still, he really don't want this one guy to rat his hideout out if he's related to those shitty upperclassmen... they looked like they're of the same age after all... But... tripping? Nah, probably wasn't related to those people.
"...Hey, uh... are you still alive?" he asked, poking the guy's bag with the baseball bat. "...Doooo you need any kind of first aaaid...?" he asked just in case.
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Post by ollieandprocopius on Aug 29, 2022 12:28:11 GMT
Ollie couldn't tell if it was a more natural reaction to blanche with fear as the fit young man bolted up out of the bed and instantly went for the baseball bat, or if the more natural expression was to blush himself crimson because he had just blown his cover by tripping over his own feet and landing with the weight of his absurdly large backpack. Eventually, when it became clear that Daichi didn't want to instantly jump to hurting him, he settled on blushing out of embarrassment.
"Nothing hurt but my pride, I guess." Ollie said, shunting himself forward a couple of times like a turtle who had been flipped upside down onto its shell, his backpack holding him down before he reached up and grabbed hold of the back of one of the bus seats and finally managed to claw himself up to his feet. "Um...I...uhh..." Ollie then froze as he realized that he had literally no explanation for why he was here or what the hell he thought he was doing. he had wandered into a private place basically on a whim and now he had gotten caught, not only that he was now staring down the owner of this secret base who looked wot be in much better shape than him, certainly much more active shape at least. "This place is really nice...I...umm. I was just out here taking a walk and a spotted this random bus in the middle of nowhere. I mean, I didn't really notice it until I was right next to it. I ended up kicking one of the plants. Not kicking it over or anything, the plant's fine, I just didn't really notice. well, I mean I noticed it obviously eventually because I came inside and I saw..." Ollie could feel his babbling shoveling one more wad of dirt over his shoulder at a time as he dug himself a deeper pit every time he opened his awkward mouth.
"OLLIE?!" Came a stern voice from just outside the bus, the sound of something stomping along the forest path outside the bus. Ollie's spine straightened. Oh good, a sensitive situation where he had already stuck both his feet in his mouth and the exact thing he needed was his brother tracking him down at that exact moment. Ollie only remembered that Daichi was holding the bat still in the moment after he saw Procopius turning his head and seeing inside the bus through the windows where the first thing his protective partner spotted was the weapon being raised toward Ollie.
"Procopius, WAIT-!" Ollie tried to shout as Procopius started off at a sprint toward the bus, charging through the doorway, grabbing Ollie by one of the shoulder straps of his backpack and shoving him backward until he was the one who was facing the armed Daichi, hunched over and snarling.
"You little bastards are getting bolder by the second. It's not enough to torment Ollie every waking second while he's at school, now you guys are, what, taking him to your little clubhouse? I've warned you brats already to keep your hands off of my brother." Procopius said, raising his fists toward Daichi. Ollie decided he had been wrong before, Blanching out of fear was actually the most legitimate reaction. The last time Procopius had crossed paths with one of Ollie's bullies he had nearly left the young man dead in the middle of the street from blunt force trauma to the head and now he was staring down an armed boy in a small space in a situation where he had not an ounce of context to his name.
Ollie was back to trying to pull himself up, silently cursing all of the material and books that he kept in his backpack as he strained to get back to his feet before Procopius' lack of information caused a fight to break out. This place was much too pretty to wreck after all and Procopius was awfully good at wrecking things.
All in all, it was a strange wake up call for Daichi.
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Post by Daichi on Aug 29, 2022 15:19:42 GMT
"Alright alright, slowly now. There's no need to beat yourself up...." Daichi commented in amusement. "As long as nothing broke..." though he paused a bit before correcting himself. "As long as nothing get harmed, I could just replace it. Pots can be replaced, but the plant not so easily. But if nothing goes wrong, that's fine..."
But then thing goes south. Hah? What? If anything he was the one who got invaded here! But then, it's seem that this second party saw red... and honestly? So does Daichi. Clubhouse? Wow that's a step too far. Plus who's bringing him here? The moment the fist come, instead of dodging or letting any of the furniture get destroyed, Daichi instead charged forward and meet Procopious fist WITH HIS HEADBUTT!
Gritting his teeth as the force from the punch was honestly disorienting him... and probably also from pain and blood blood that started to appear on the point of impact... Daichi glared at the older looking guy.
"Speak for yourself. I did not harm that guy. Bullying? Not my style. And what YOU think you're doing, huh?"
He already got suspended just because someone mocking his father. If anyone would dare to destroy this sanctuary then...
"...If even a spot of this bus got damaged, I don't care who you are, bub; nor what you can do to me... If you dare to damage my happy place; you're dead."
This is the only place he got of his father. Every single of them, every inches, every milimeter, is a home they build together. It was a memory when the family was whole. He will not suffer it getting even slightly dented. Though honestly, the punch hurts! He's not sure if he could take more of those hits, but... Honestly? Adrenaline is really high right now. His fury pretty much peaking by the second. He's not violent, mind, but he will not hesitate to fight.
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Post by ollieandprocopius on Aug 30, 2022 12:18:28 GMT
Procopius started to respond, moving forward with his hands up to deliver another blow but he was stopped before he could even open his mouth to speak again. Ollie had shoved himself up to his feet and grabbed hold of the back of Procopius' loosely fitted black vest with both hands, hauling him back with all of his strength until he was basically balancing himself on the heels of his feet using most of his weight just to hold back his partner.
"Will you just pack up the testosterone for ten seconds and actually listen for a change!" Ollie shouted, his face turning red just trying to hold Procopius back, the Digimon was stronger than him, bigger than him, a more experienced fighter than him, but just like earlier where Ollie had been trying to get up, that backpack was HEAVY, more than heavy enough to put a hitch in Procopius' step.
"You're lucky my brother's a nicer guy than me, rat. He just saved your bacon." Procopius said with a huff as he turned to Ollie who rolled his eyes so hard they almost fell backward into his head.
"Oh for the love of- HE WASN'T BULLYING ME!" Ollie shouted, desperate to put an end to this exhausting, confused, conversational run around. That was the first time Procopius had ever heard Ollie raise his voice to correct someone about...anything really, he'd only heard Ollie raise his voice period a handful of times. "I was skipping class to get away from the ACTUAL bullies, I came upon this place, I didn't realize anybody was home, I poked my head in, he was here, you blundered in and started throwing accusations around, can we please all just take a second before I have a heart attack?!" Ollie said, groaning as his fingers finally slipped free of Procopius' vest jacket, falling back onto his rear end with a frustrated groan
"Oh." Was all that Procopius could really say to that.
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Post by Daichi on Aug 30, 2022 13:24:45 GMT
Not willing to even listen? This guy is even worse than he thought. In that case, he was about to use his smaller height to slip in then execute a liver punch. Honestly it's time like this where Daichi kind of really cursing his foolishness to not take a martial arts. Yet, he knew, if he did took martial arts back in the past, that broken nose that one senior got won't be just a broken nose but something even worse.
But before he could do anything, this older kid held the other guy back. Daichi instead chose to rise from his position, breath still labored from holding back fury and all the adrenaline. Still, the accusation tossed made him actually snarl, almost like a rabid animal.
...And it got corrected, but boy, if look can kill, then surely everyone there would be murdered as the boy muttered string of curses in japanese and english both. Blood already trickling down to his left eye, and it's getting annoying. Daichi tossed the baseball bat to the other side of the room, to where he came from, where it clattered as it hit the floor.
He grabbed a first aid kit near the bathroom, took a gauze and poured it with antiseptic liquid and began to cleaning his wound. While he's doing this he was absolutely silent, not even acknowelding the two that just trespassed. Once he's done with it, he slapped a new one there and bandaged his head just in case, grabbed a cold compress and pressed it against the point of impact after pulling a chair to sit down.
Oh boy, he's really angry. Really really really angry.
"...Of all thing to start tossing accusation on..." he began "it's that I'm a bully; brought him to this place that's clearly too well taken care of to be a clubhouse or whatever the shit it was. I can't even begin where should I voice my complaint..."
He was about to hurl some more (probably very well deserved complaints) when something buzzes, then let out a small calming music tune. "It's 1:40 PM..." a recording played. The voice belonged to a man. "This is a daily reminder... Dai, if you're here, you should probably take a lunch and stop reading *chuckle*. We both know that you love reading those nature books way too much, but take care fo yourself, you hear? Eat healthy, don't just eat the same meal everyday... and who knows, probably browse some recipes? Anyway... I love you, remember that always."
Upon hearing that, Daichi bit his lip and calmed himself down. "...Whatever." he brushed it off. He walked back to his room and picked the book that accidentally launched from his sudden waking up and pushed it to a bookshelf where it belonged.
"....And so? Why are you here again?" he asked Ollie, this time calmer and much more neutral. "I didn't hear much back then but it was related to bullying?"
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Post by ollieandprocopius on Aug 31, 2022 12:25:33 GMT
Procopius didn't actually respond to Daichi's ranting, just glaring as they stared one another down like territorial animals ready to go on the attack the moment they senses weakness in one another. It was enough for someone to imagine the cliché of a bolt of lightning jumping between both of their glaring faces to show just how much the two of them were barely restraining their violent instincts against one another.
"Here, I have something for that..." Ollie said, stepping forward and pulling something from a front pocket of his bag. A rattling bottle of pills for pain relief that he unscrewed with a smooth, practiced motion that tapped a pair of dull red pills into the palm of his hand. "Here, it's something for the headache at least." Ollie said, assuming that the blow directly to the face had been at least a little bit unkind to Daichi, instinctively he ran his fingers over the spot just above his left eyebrow where he had most recently been struck by a rock somebody had thrown. "Forehead wounds look much worse than they actually are, they tend to bleed a lot but they close up pretty fast all things considered, no worse for wear." Ollie said, his genuinely sweet and gentle side coming out now that he wasn't in a headlong panic wondering if he was going to have to keep his brother from brawling with a kid who was less than half of his visible age.
Ollie listened to the alarm message that sounded like it came from someone really close to Daichi. he felt a strong hand wrap around his heart until he was possessed of that same heartsickness that came oh so easily to him. Daichi had people in his life, Ollie didn't, other than Procopius there was nobody on the face of the planet who would care if Ollie vanished tomorrow never to be seen again. he looked over his shoulder and let out a soft smile. One person, one person would care and would march right up to the gates of hell to find him, Ollie supposed that was better than he used to have.
"I...I'm skipping class right now." Ollie said when Daichi asked him point blank what on earth he was doing here. Procopius continued to silently sulk, looking over the two of them with his arms crossed over his chest and a glare down at the entire scenario. Apparently it wasn't very easy for him to admit that he had been wrong and had jumped to a conclusion without actually thinking. Ollie ignored him for the moment. "Some days the bullying just gets to be too much and I need to be somewhere, anywhere else before I just start to break down crying. I was talking a walk through the woods to clear my head and I found your little slice of paradise." Ollie said, smiling as his eyes scanned over the space. it really was impressive the way Daichi was able to maintain this secret hideaway like something from a children's anime.
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Post by Daichi on Aug 31, 2022 12:51:37 GMT
Daichi eyed the pills and... the wound. His eyes darted between the two point of focus multiple times, and with each lap his eyebrows knitted tighter in obvious distaste. "....I don't need that... and honestly, neither should you. Have you ever talked about the bullying that happening to the teachers? Or... god forbid, they did nothing?" there's a venom in his voice. "...I don't know which school did you go to, but honestly, if there are nothing that were done then the world of education is done for."
God, his mood is all over the place. He's angry, and he's ABSOLUTELY PISSED. Not even a single apology from the actual perpetrator and now he's high strung. He's like a caged tiger who just roughly woken up from his sweet nap, and now all he knew is that he just want to bash something.
"I don't fucking care about any wound as long as none of this place is destroyed or whatever. Hell you saw me with the baseball bat. What for you might ask? To chase away trespasser that wouldn't have any clue that this is mine and its value. I have way too many encounters with truants, homeless, whatever... way too many." he knocked gently on one of the many windows. "And I have told them all the same thing I have told other people: If you came here just accidentally that's fine. Visiting me? That's absolutely cool and I'd love that. Claim this place as yours, though... no mercy."
So that's what happened... "....Well, since you're here, I bet you also skipped lunch?" he asked. "...My sis cooked too much, so if you want to help yourself to some spaghetti and meatball, I'll heat 'em up for ya... not the one on the table. Take a plate and eat, have at you I guess. But please... make sure to not use the brown set with the plant motif... That one... is special."
Tossing the ice pack away aside, Daichi walked to the kitchen and checked on the food just in case before turning the stove on. Even if they don't want to eat, then so be it. He'll probably use the marinara sauce for his toast or something. Meatball toast is good too.
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Post by ollieandprocopius on Sept 1, 2022 12:22:28 GMT
Ollie shrugged as his medical gift was waved off. He put the pain pills back in the bottle and stuffed them back into the front pocket of his bag. Even though at the moment he could feel a stress headache coming on, the pills didn't often help with those, those he just had to ride out or sleep off, whichever came girl.
"I..." Ollie started to say before the sound of his rumbling stomach overpowered his words and proved Daichi's point in a single moment. He blushed brightly at that but couldn't help but let a smile slip through at the perfected comedic timing. "Lunch sounds wonderful, thank you." Ollie said, unslinging his backpack and pushing it behind the seat that he would be using at the dining table set up in the space.
As polite as he tried to be about accepting the offer, the moment the actual food was set down in front of him he further proved Daichi's point and started plowing through the meal set in front of him. Between often being out of school before lunch time for the sake of his sanity and being fed orphanage food for the rest of the time, the amount of times he got to really enjoy a hearty, filling meal like this was a depressingly small number.
"Teachers won't do anything, they just take their own turns to pick on the little orphaned gaijin." Procopius said with a snarl that said he would be just fine burning down the whole world if he got the chance. Ollie, unable to actually stop eating, looked a little funny with sad eyes looking out over the massive forkful of spaghetti that he had just shoved in his face.
"I'm Ollie, by the way, this is my brother Procopius." Ollie said, realizing he had never actually made introductions in all of the excitement. He sighed and shook his head, silently cursing Procopius for his attitude but unable to stop himself from smiling about it either. Daichi got a little window into Ollie's life when he heard the clearly American, or at least American seeming boy speaking with perfect, unaccented Japanese as if he had been speaking the language natively for his entire life, which, of course, Ollie had.
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Post by Daichi on Sept 1, 2022 13:31:43 GMT
Yep, that pretty much said it, Daichi just wordlessly put the entire pot of marinara sauce with herbs and meatballs inside and then the pasta. Interestingly, the thirteen years old seem to pick the fettucine kind rather than spaghetti. Anyway, he resumed to eat his half eaten lunch silently. Sometimes he spared glances at the older boy, and even putting some more meatballs on his plate wordlessly, like encouraging Ollie to eat more.
There's definitely still that icy atmosphere considering what happened before, but at least it wasn't the high strung that Daichi exhibited before. Well, because he's only finishing what he have ate, Daichi took less time and immediately put his used dishes on the sink before cleaning it.
The school sounds really bad though. If he's in middle school then he guess it makes sense that he had to attend school closest to his zone. Well, that is if it's public school, which he assume it is. In case of Daichi though, there were talk about going to private school later... either way...
"Your brother needed to attend some anger management class, lest he actually beat up an innocent teenager half to death or even worse," Daichi commented pointedly. "We're both lucky that nothing too drastic happened... and I guess even luckier that my sister isn't here."
The idea of Lily actually using her fencing lesson in real life with ferocity of a protective mother bear isn't something that he'd like imagine, much less see.
"Shiki Daichi, just recently became a middle schooler I guess. Nothing much to write about me, just a normal student who just got suspended for a week when you accidentally came here.."
Still, a curious point is how he spoke clear Japanese. Well, Daichi himself speaks clear Japanese, but he's a half. His father is a british man, and would be the reason for his british accented english when he speaks it. Abandoned? Hmn, well it's none of his business, but he do know something that he can do. He opened the cabinet and checked for some meals.
Frozen-dried soups. He grabbed about two packs of six serving per flavor. As there are four flavors, there are eight packs in total, then slides it to Ollie. "You're still growing, and from the sounds of it you didn't eat well enough, do you? Here, I'll give you these. They're freeze-dried soups. Just pop one to a boiling water and you got a mug worth of soup. This one is tomato based, this one is cream mushroom, this one is shellfish miso, and finally this one is chicken. It's not that much, but better than having none... also," he added a bag of something... that something being a homemade oats bar.
"Oats and berry bar. I don't really suggest eating them while your stomach is empty, but I think it's nutritious and very sweet, perfect to meet your daily sugar intake recommendation."
As much as he wanted to give Ollie a place to stay, he can't really offer that. He don't want to get involved with bullies that may trashes his slice of heaven. But on the other hand just doing nothing after he have mostly heard about the other boy's circumstances doesn't sit well with him either.
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Post by ollieandprocopius on Sept 2, 2022 12:39:11 GMT
Ollie didn't say anything when given the extra helpings of food, just shoving them down hard and fast enough that he nearly choked multiple times, draining more than a few glasses of water just to shove down the food that he was shoveling into his face. he didn't know how long it had been since he'd had a warm, hearty meal that actually made him feel full and comfortable from the inside out. It was fresh, it tasted delicious, it was like the kind of thing he would have wished for off the bat if he had been given a genie.
"What I need. Is a world full of kids that don't put down on my brother for existing." Procopius said in response to Daichi's recommendation of anger management classes. "I have every right to be pissed off at the way people treat him, and if nobody else is going to do something about it, then I will." Procopius said, snarling. As far as he was concerned, he had to be angry, he had to be pissed off and ready to fight, because if he wasn't the one standing in Ollie's corner than nobody else would be. Nobody at the orphanage, certainly nobody at the school, Procopius was the only one who would always be there to go up to bat for Ollie no matter the circumstance. It was built into his background as a Digimon gangster. he took care of his own, anybody who took a shot at a member of his "crew" got to deal with him directly.
"Suspended for a whole week? Who's the one who needs anger management classes again?" Ollie said, laughing good naturedly at the revelation of why Daichi was out here in the middle of the day when he should have been in class. Procopius grinned at that too, it seems that the young man wasn't as "high and mighty" as he seemed. Procopius may have had violent reactions to people putting down on Ollie, but so far at the very least he had avoided getting caught. He was good at that.
"Hm?" Ollie's head tilted to one side as he saw Daichi get up and begin to collect something for him. Daichi was collecting food and placing it in front of him. He felt his heart seizing up before feeling it thump quickly back to life in his chest as he accepted the bag, looking down into it and then back up at Daichi as if expecting the bottom to drop out and the catch to be announced to him. He took the homemade bar readily, stowing it in the side pocket of his bag. Daichi actually saw Ollie's eyes welling up with tears. The idea of a school week's worth of warm meals that he could prepare himself was something he could never have imagined before, instead of cold rice and veggies thrown in front of him by an overworked member of orphanage staff that didn't remember the name of a single kid they were feeding.
Procopius placed his hand on Ollie's shoulder as Ollie felt a massive lump like a stone in the middle of his throat. He blinked hard, sending a couple of heavy tears down over his cheeks before looking up at Daichi.
"Th...thank you."
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Post by Daichi on Sept 2, 2022 13:06:57 GMT
Just like how he wordlessly put more and more food on Ollie's platter, Daichi slids bottled water too. Not the flavored kind. He found it gross. Sure that many people said "but you can just drink tapwater when it comes to drink, can't you?" he'd answer with "yeah but spring water tastes different, and bottled spring water is the best."
"But just because he's bullied doesn't mean that the entire world is out to get him," Daichi said almost in-matter-of-fact way. "Yes, bullying is a reaction of virus called hatred. If you boil down all prejudice and xenophobia, it's simply hatred. But even then... it doesn't mean that you should respond with fire all the time. Sure fighting fire with fire is a valid strategy, but had it been someone else, and had he did not stop you right after the first punch, do you think that I will still have good feelings toward this entire situation?
Either way I don't think I need to lecture you on it. I just think that you need to think more about the effect of your action to him. Of course I won't tell you to stop fighting on his corner, no... but some brakes would be needed in case misunderstanding happened."
Daichi smirked when the table was turned. "...I got my reason, but I do not regret breaking that older delinquent's nose at all. If anything, my only regret is to not combo the knee-to-face to downright swing."
Seeing the tears shocked Daichi honestly. He didn't expect that it was... that bad. He scratched the back of his head, looking aside awkwardly. "...I... honestly thought that wasn't enough at all to be honest... I mean, I couldn't give you anything fresh, and I only could give you rations... I couldn't even offer you a place to stay. I honestly thought that it was... quite rude of me to just give you these..."
Still, if he's really that pressed that even dry soup and handmade oats and berry bar would make him so thankful...
Daichi pulled some more stuff. "...You need calcium too, so here," he put a powdered milk cereal, enough for two weeks. "If you need some protein, I suggest these," he also slid a box of ready to eat sausages. "These sausages can be stored in room temperature. It's summer, though, so make sure to eat them fast. I think this amount is enough for a week..."
then, he slids in a box of gummy candies. "Vitamin gummies. Not as effective as actually drinking juice or taking actual supplements, but better than nothing. They're also very resilent so there's that.... Also, here, drink," he slids another one, this time... a carton fo fruit juice? "You probably can't bring them out because they spoil really quickly, so just drink that here, I guess..."
What else even? He have no idea really...
"Well I think that's about the assistance I could give you readily... I also have a spare blanket and a sleeping bag if you... would like that, but honestly they're sorta hand-me-down... They're still in good condition, just... I dunno, wouldn't it be rude to offer those....?"
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Post by ollieandprocopius on Sept 3, 2022 12:24:05 GMT
"The last time I let my guard down and assumed the entire world wasn't out to get him, I missed the rock that hit him in the forehead. You'll excuse me if I'm being a little bit more cautious these days. But...for what it's worth, I'm sorry I overreacted." Procopius said, his stony heart not exactly thawed by the act of kindness that Daichi was showing Ollie but it did make him trust the young man more than he would have before, enough to force out an apology when combined with what he knew would be Ollie's judgement on the matter.
Ollie rolled his fingertips over the spot where the rock had slashed open his forehead, right above his left eyebrow. It hadn't left any kind of noticeable scar, luckily, but it was impossible for Ollie to forget either way. It really was a microcosm of how his life usually went, minding his own business, walking down the middle of the sidewalk and suddenly being met with an act of hatred and violence he had neither prompted nor prepared for. He tried so hard not to become cynical about it, but it was hard when he was always being punished just for assuming it wouldn't come out of the blue to ruin his day every single time.
"Rude? No I've...I've never have someone just offer me so much food like this." Ollie said, tears actually rolling down his face now as he swallowed a couple of times to try and banish the lump in his throat, unsuccessfully. "I should be able to get into the kitchen to fix these up, thank you so much." Ollie said as he swallowed hard again, his eyes becoming red and puffy from all the emotion that was rolling down over his cheeks.
"We'll take the blanket at least. The one they've got him using at the orphanage is so ratty and tattered the he's gonna wake up with a cold one of these days before long." Procopius said, looking out the window to the last of the summer sun pouring down over the green forest and grasses of Daichi's second home. Fall was coming quickly and it would put him at ease to know that Ollie had something to keep him warm while the whole world was cooling down around him.
"Thanks, mom." Ollie said, sarcastically, at Procopius, though he couldn't actually disagree with his assessment. His scratchy blanket back at the orphanage, when it wasn't being stolen by the kids as per usual, had multiple holes and threadbare patches in it that let in an unwelcome draft no matter how tightly he snuggled up under it and against the wall his bed was pushed up against. He really would end up getting sick if he just stuck with that through the fall and winter. "I...don't know what to say, Daichi, you're being so kind for no reason at all, after I blundered into your little slice of heaven." Ollie said, obediently sucking down the fruit juice carton that had been offered to him, throwing his head back and gulping mouthful after mouthful like a man being pulled out of the Sahara
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