Seeing stars (Sascha)

[Ren Hughes]

It was finally spring. The time for rain showers and blooming flowers. It was a somewhat decent day, slightly sunny and warm with a nice breeze. Sneaking out from his house, he made his way to the park. He was supposed to be watched by his caretaker, but he was too busy watching movies and smoking cigarettes. He had dressed himself today, which was sort of rare. He wasn't good at matching clothes. He wore his khaki shorts and a white shirt that was backwards and inside out. The lapel hung out the neck of his shirt, not that he noticed it. He sat in the somewhat wet grass, that still had moisture from the storm that had happened the day before. He picked at the clovers as he stared at the sky. It was a lucky day that the sun was hidden behind the clouds, or else he would be looking straight into that brightness. He liked the way it burned his eyes. It was just so big, bright, and pretty. It was kind of like a challenge to him.

Ren laid down in the grass, not really noticing the weird looks he received by the few rare people that passed by. When people saw him they knew something was off about him. He wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. He had a few screws loose. Always had, he had been born that way. Maybe it was from the lack of care his mom had given him. He had been abandoned in a trash can in an alleyway, and had been raised by a bum for a while until that old lady had picked him up. Everything after that was kind of a blur. He blinked up at the sky, the sun now starting to peek out. He giggled as he stared into the brightness. He wore a goofy grin as he clamped his eyes shut and rubbed them. It was that comforting burn again, made by that big, warm ball of prettiness.

As Ren opened his slightly tear struck eyes, he blinked away the stars that he had received when he rubbed his eyes too hard. Everything was black at first, and it slowly faded into normal. He blinked up at the shadow above him. "Hihi shadow man~" He saw a person above him, but it was hard to see his features because the sun was directly above them. He blinked his eyes a few times, trying to get them used to the brightness as he peered at the person above him.

[Sascha Reed]

The sun was bearing down on the sprawling grass in front of him, reflecting off it just slightly. There were, as he should have expected, multiple groups of people scattered throughout the park. Lots of couples and a few with their small children all of which engaged in various activities. Picnics, Frisbee, the usual uneventful and greatly expected doings for spring time. Though he tried not to consider it frequently, surroundings such as the park did tend to remind him that he spent a good hunk of his time isolated from the masses. Of course, he didn't quite know how to communicate particularly great with the masses either. Yes, he knew Japanese but to consider himself fluent would be nothing but a laughable compliment to himself. Assistant teaching English meant he spent 90 percent of his time in a dull 9 to 5 job, and today was a nice change of pace.

His shoes dig into the dampened grass, leaving marks from the bottom tread in some of the more muddy patches. A cigarette burns down and out slowly in his right hand, the remainders of the pack in his left back pocket. It wasn't unusual to burn through a pack in a day, and the relaxing weather only provided a sort of positive reinforcement for his habits.

Despite the passing of the rain the breeze still whipped around occasionally, blowing the cigarette smoke away from him and directly into the pathways of passerby's. A momentary guilt strikes him for the unavoidable, but it passes when he glances over in the direction of the way it blows.

Just within his eyesight there is a vague looking figure of a lone younger boy, seemingly staring into the sky. He raises an eyebrow, tapping off the soot on the edge of the cigarette whilst he does so. Without consideration he meanders towards him, squinting a bit to make out the details. He has to bite his lips to keep from visibly laughing as he finally leans over, now standing close to him, almost hovering over him.

Although similar in psychical appearance, this kid appeared to need a bit of help in the morning to dress himself, maybe more. He sighs, dropping his cigarette and stomping on it with the toe of his shoe. He lets out a slight sigh, mostly to continue to calm and stifle the possibility of laughing.

"Hi.." he crouches down on his knees, eyes level with the other. His cutoff shorts scrunch up above his knees

"I thought, maybe you'd like to know...your shirt is inside out." he points to the reversed seam, smiling a little as he tries to change the amazement into some form of kindness.

[Ren Hughes]

Ren blinked at the other male. So he wasn't a sun sprite. He had hoped he'd meet one someday. His caretaker told him stories of them. Like if he wasn't a good boy that the sun sprites would take him away to the sun and let him burn up into a crisp. It didn't sound pleasant, but he thought that the sprites would be cute. "E-eh? I-inside out?" Ren blushed a deep shade of red as he sat up. He looked at where the male was pointing and his tag smacked his chin. Ren blushed even harder in embarrassment and took his shirt off in a quick movement. Even though he was a complete and utter dumb ass, he had a nice body. His muscles being toned and his skin color healthy. He was nothing special, but he wasn't anything gross to look at either.

He hesitated a little, trying to get his shirt back on the right way. He struggled slightly when his head wouldn't go through the designated hole, he ended up flailing slightly. But in the end, he got it back on right side out. Even though it was still backwards. "S-sorry for the trouble, mister." Ren blushed even fiercer, glancing away from the other males eyes in embarrassment. "M-my names Ren. What's yours?" Ren peeked up again, into the man's eyes. He didn't really know what to say to him. Words weren't really his forte. He had the vocabulary of a toddler, and most of the mind set of one too. Most likely due to being dropped on the head many, many, times by hobos.

Ren looked around, momentarily forgetting where he was. Oh it was the park. Ren giggled lightly to himself as he watched a kid fall on his butt while he played soccer with his friends. He kind of wished he could join. He pouted slightly, watching the kids have fun. He never did anything like that. No one played with him because he didn't understand the rules. And it took forever for people to explain them, only for him not to get them anyway. Getting up on his knees, he watched as the boys got closer. His fingers twitched eagerly to catch it if it came his way.

He giggled as the boys noticed him and they kicked the ball his way. His hands weren't even close to catching it, and it ended up smacking him in the face. He whimpered as it made contact with his nose. He fell on his butt, clutching his face. He pulled his fingers away from his face, revealing his bloody nose. "Nngh." Ren whimpered softly, trying to hold in his tears as the boys collected their ball and promptly ran off in fear of getting in trouble. They shouted their sorry's and made off in a completely different direction.

Ren picked up the hem of his shirt and dabbed at the blood, forgetting the man who had stopped to tell him about his shirt. He flinched, looking up at him with big saddened eyes. "S-s-sorry.. I-I get confused and forget stuff sometimes. People call me stupid.. so.." He trailed off, forgetting what he was trying to say. He continued to look up at the male, with blank eyes. He blinked his purple eyes at him, almost fluttery like. When words fail, just blink.

[Sascha Reed]

It takes effort to keep himself from flinching once the other's shirt comes off. So maybe he was a little too innocent for his age, or maybe he was just a prude. Granted, what was the kid supposed to do? Walk around like the that for the rest of the day? Imagine the jeers he would've got with his shirt inside out. He Rubs at his eyes, sighing to himself.

"No--ah, I just wanted to make sure you knew..." he laughs a little, mostly to break the seemingly awkward tone he had managed to set right away. "It's really fine, though." he smiles.

"I'm Sascha." he responds in a somewhat stale tone. There wasn't a whole lot to say, other than that, he assumed. "Nice to meet you.." his voice drifted a little as he suddenly realized the blur of a soccer ball whizzing past his peripheral vision...and directly into Ren's face.


"Oh fuck! Oh my god!" he raises his arms, almost flailing them, before they fall back down to his side, his eyes dilating when he notices the blood. He crouches down again, slipping off the lightweight black sweatshirt off his right arm and then doing the same to his left.

"Here, don't use your shirt..." he says. The article of clothing was already tattered with small mothball holes and ripping threads. It would've been thrown out eventually anyways, so he reasoned. He outstretches his now bare arms and smiles though he's admittedly slightly disturbed by the situation.

How did all of this even happen to one person anyways? Bad luck was one thing, Bad luck and a...lack of intelligence, well, that was practically enough to call it a curse in some situations. He assumed that included this one. "No, it's fine.." his voice wavers a little, still questioning how this was possible.

"C'mere... tilt your head back, it'll keep it from bleeding so much." he mumbles and motions to the other to follow him "Follow me." he says, but then quickly pauses, turning just slightly to grab the other by the wrist. "Don't want you to get lost." he says, though he's half joking, but partially serious after the others statement. He crisscrosses through the grass whilst keeping hold of the other, a bit wary to somehow loose his grasp on the younger boy.

He wanders down and across the park in a haphazard criss-cross pattern and towards a small bathroom, pushing the door open and holding it to allow the other inside. Thankfully, it was empty, given their situation and how much Sascha felt terribly strange about the entire situation. He walks in behind Ren, but makes his way quickly towards the paper towels, ripping a few off for the other. He smiles, awkwardly as he hands them over, not wanting the bloodied sweatshirt back in return.

"...This happens to you often?" In recent memory he didn't think he'd witnessed so many sudden unfortunate events at one time, to one person.