Killing Time [T|P]

[EVANGELINE]

A sunny day in Iwa, and one that wasn't as humid or as hot, thankfully. The sun was already hanging high in the sky, amidst a group of white clouds. The pale blue of the sky and with the sun and clouds made looking upward almost like admiring a painting, even if the sun's rays could potentially blind a being if they so dared to look directly at it, making admiring parts of this painting not quite as enjoyable. But away from the sun, the clouds formed interesting patterns, the mixed white with the blue was enough of a piece of art in itself. 

But unfortunately, one girl had no such interests in admiring what the sky and the weather itself had to offer. Was she not in high spirits? Certainly not. She was merely bored...a little too bored. The girl in question was Evangeline, a recently graduated academy student who was now a Genin. Yes, getting the Iwa headband was one of the few of her happiest and proudest moments, but then what? She knew that Genins trained and took missions. Yet, neither of those things felt especially appealing to her. 

The worst part was nobody could blame her...

Technically not, anyhow. Evangeline was becoming weary of the fact that her failures for jutsu training was so great that it was not allowing her to advance as quickly as she hoped for. Though she knew that being a Genin and unable to control her chakra was reason alone for so much error to result from training a low ranked technique and learning it all with just one try. In fact, she was more than aware. So now, she takes the time to step back from training and instead take on missions. Assuming that that would be a better feat, the young kunoichi had boldly signed up for her first ever mission. 

But somehow missions just didn't click with her...

So now there she was, at the gates of Iwa one fine morning, doing nothing in particular except wandering. The purple haired girl would pass the Tao guards guarding the gates of Iwa and almost like a zombie, walk forward to the place known as Tsuchi no Kuni. Indeed, the country was just as the name would suggest, be extremely boring. She knew she ought to be thankful that no fight or whatever was breaking out or else she would find herself being caught amidst things that she just wouldn't be certain she could handle. No, that wasn't quite true. At least a fight wouldn't be boring! Whether she'd come out alive was another story.

Boredom was a man's worst enemy...

[Mad-Rock]

Finding himself surveying the land of the Earth Country, Lycan was easily becoming border by the minute. Nonetheless this was an important mission so he couldn't, wouldn't let boredom slow his mission's goal. Though he'd soon find himself upon another Stone shinobi as he jumped through a tree line, entering the opening, a few meters from the purple haired female from the Hidden Stone.

Her body language showed confusion, perhaps something deeper than that though. Rising to his full height he showed his pointy pearly whites before licking them and speaking quickly. "You look a bit young to be venturing out of your village alone aren't ya? Or are ya one of those rebellious types aye?"

[/color]

He was probably giving off an intimidating and worrisome aura, which wasn't his goal. But, he'd like to see how the young Hidden Stone girl would react to a real life situation. The Hidden Mist couldn't have weak allies after all, that'd ruin the entire purpose of an alliance...wouldn't it?
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[EVANGELINE]

An abrupt noise would stop all thinking from the young Iwa Genin. Her eyes glancing sharply left and right, she wanted to know the source of the noise. And soon she would know just that. The young girl had her right hand slipped into her weapon pouch, her fingers gripped around what she knew to be a kunai. Evangeline was taught to be tactful and mindful as she knew that people often liked to take her off guard. If she was not observant and ready, it would be a big flaw that could lead to dire consequences. And she was not about to allow herself to be in that type of situation. There was so much left for her to do, so much of the world left for her to see. She needed to be on the alert for everything. The shinobi locked her gaze on the lines of trees not far from where she was standing. Indeed, the noise came from there.

And yes, it certainly did.

The noise was the rustling of leaves and in a second a person would emerge from them, making his appearance known to her. Having only been a Genin for a short while, she had not had the chance to meet everyone from her village, much less those that weren't. Thus, the man before her was not familiar at all. Dark brown hair and blond eyes would be the first features that she would observe from this stranger. Much else was unknown. At least for now. As he advanced towards her she would freeze, although not in fear or terror. If he was going for a sudden attack he could have done so long ago. The fact that he hadn't seemed to her the possibility that maybe he meant no harm. But Evangeline wasn't so trusting of her instincts...at least not quite. She knew that sometimes her instincts were right on but most of the time they failed her especially at crucial moments. The best of action was to continue to observe and perhaps interact with the man before her.

Her hand was still tightly gripped on the handle of the kunai in her weapon pouch as she listened to what he had to say. Of course she did not show a sign that read that she was ready to pick a fight. That was the last thing she wanted for she was definitely not one of those fighter types. The purple haired shinobi had very interesting character. She didn't like to fight but she would hardly advocate for peace. Technically at her rank there was no need for avocation because she was too fresh of a kunoichi to do much of that. Right now her concentration was on getting stronger. Her muscles were relaxed slightly but not enough that any move from the man would go unnoticed. However, his comment and statement made her stiffen. Your village...? Does that mean he's not part of Iwa? Then why was he in Tsuchi no Kuni? She recognized from what she had heard before that villages from other countries often visited the country and also sometimes even the village. Could he be one of those? If so, then which village? And if not, then what was he?

Many questions were swarming through the young girl's mind that she almost forgot to respond to the man before her. Evangeline cleared her throat and gave a small smile, a colder smile that signified distance and hostility. Although most a friendly person by nature, she was not so sure about this particular man. Until she knew more about him, she would not jump to any of her own conclusions. ”Do I look young to you? I take that as a compliment. Not quite the rebellious type. Haven't been here in awhile and today seemed to be the day.” The last part was obvious a lie, given her expression of confusion having set foot on Tsuchi no Kuni grounds. That sort of confusion could not be unmasked for what it was; that this was her first time out of the village gates and now she was wondering if she should venture any further type.

But he certainly didn't need to know that..

[Axcel]

The faux shinobi hummed a tune as he traversed the rock covered lands. He was supposed to be exploring Blast City, but Axcel decided against that, and decided to take his adventures outside the city and to the countryside. He was beginning to regret that though, as it seemed that these lands are as desolate and empty as they appeared. It was sad really--almost depressing, but Axcel wouldn’t let country’s atmosphere bring him down. Nope--he simply grinned and continued onward, determined to find something of interest in his travel.

And something of interest was exactly what he would find.

It was the sound of a voice, no--multiple voices. As Axcel approached the edge of a small cliff, he would see two figures roughly fifteen meters below. Amber eyes gazed downward, the lad cupping a hand over his brow in an effort of shielding his vision from the sun. The first thing the Rokudaime would see was purple--long strands of purple hair which belonged to a young girl whose back was towards Axcel. Not too far from here was another person--a rugged looking fellow who looked like someone who had seen his fair share of battles.

Axcel crouched a bit, perching himself onto the very edge of the cliff while still looking down, hoping to be able to at least hear what the two were conversing about, but alas, he could only make out a word or two. From what little he could hear and from what he saw, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of. . .tension emanating from the two, as if it something bad either was or already had happened. So, knowing this, Axcel did what any veteran shinobi raised as a prodigal among prodigals within his profession would do. . .

“YO~!” he shouted loudly. If any of them turned to look at him, his visage would be blocked by the sun behind him, appearing more like a shadow than anything. It wouldn’t matter though, because just a moment after yelling obnoxiously and alerting both of them of his presence, Axcel would jump off the short cliff, soaring downwards. His blue vest flapped about as he flipped thrice before landing onto the ground in a crouching position. His landing was accompanied by a cloud of dust lifting into the air, dispersing outward as he moved to stand up.

“What’s up?!” The grin on his face widened.

[/justify]

[Mad-Rock]

His machete was drawn quickly upon the sound of a new arrival, turning to watch the man flipping into a crouched position upon landing back to the earth he paused. And after watching the man for a short while he dubbed him as no threat, and as such merely stabbed his blade into the earth just after his feet and placed his foot beside it, prepared to kick it to his hand.

He'd then eye the girl from over his shoulder before growling slightly. "Some kinda set up? Other than the fact that trying to attack me would be unwise, you'd also be upsetting the possible alliance I am to bring from the Hidden Mist to the Hidden Stone..."

[/color] Showing his pearly whites and their razor edges he ran his tongue over them. He was pretty sure this wasn't what it seemed, which was that this black haired man was using this girl as bait to attack those who'd pass by this area.
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[EVANGELINE]

If she had thought this day was to be a boring one, she was definitely in for a much more pleasant surprise. And by the word of pleasant, it meant having this rough looking guy staring at her like he wants to eat her or something and this other guy who miraculously appears and flies off a cliff as a way of a grand entrance. Wait what? She wasn't proccessing what was happening. Or rather, she didn't have much time to. The young Genin was still trying to deal with that one 'in your face' dude that was staring at her thinking she wanted to pick a fight when suddenly she heard a rather loud greeting from up above. A simple search would reveal that said greeting came from a man who was situated on a small cliff just above them.

Oh great...this was now a party?

She knew she had asked for company but this kind? The young woman would not be able to see the newcomer's face as it was blocked by the sun. A silhouette was all that was allowed. But she didn't have to wait long for the reveal of this man's appearance. Though she would come to realize that again like this other guy in front of her, she would not be able to recognize him. What was with Tsuchi becoming overly populated with strangers and foreigners from other countries. Evangeline had only but taken a rather educated guess that he too was not from Iwa. She was good at remembering people's faces and neither of them seemed like Iwa shinobi.

She would at least get a confirmation from that rough looking man from before that he was indeed not from her village. Not that it took much of a rocket scientist to figure that one out. He told her that he was from Hidden Village of the Mist, better known to her as Kirigakure no Sato. Truth be told she didn't know much about Kiri at all, just that it like Iwa was a hidden village and apparently Iwa wanted to ally with them. As anyone could bluntly tell without much trouble, the knowledge this girl held about any other village besides her own was minimal to non-existent. Perhaps she'd be able to learn more this time around. Perhaps...

But judging by the reaction that he gave her, that possibility was rather slim. He thought that she and this other man were tricking him or something? She'd never sen either before! Though now she took interest in the newcomer, his blue cape and dark hair capturing her attention. In response to what the man had said, she would only give him a small smile. "Unless I strike at you, don't make assumptions. But since you are a visitor to Tsuchi, I guess it's only respectful to welcome you to Tsuchi no Kuni." Then she would automatically turn her attention to the other man and give him a similar smile, this time actually initiating some form of conversation. "I've never seen you around either...you are?"

[Axcel]

When Axcel thought he had felt tension in the air earlier, he couldn’t have been closer to the truth. These two, the purple haired kunoichi and the older male, looked as if they were ready to attack one another at a moment’s notice. In fact, the blonde headed one had gone as far as to draw his weapon at the sight of Axcel. The lad smirked a bit, did he look that threatening? He couldn’t blame him for playing it safe though--if he was new to these parts of the land then he wasn’t wrong to be cautious.

Axcel wouldn’t have to wait long before the older man would reveal himself to be a shinobi from Kirigakure and would follow that by identifying the girl as a shinobi for Iwagakure. Axcel’s hand raised to scratch the back of his head, clearly puzzled as to why they would share such information freely with one another. The girl acknowledged the man’s statement, essentially confirming the fact herself. They were likely genin--unseasoned and unaware of the ramifications of such actions. Regardless--it was irrelevant to Axcel and he didn’t intend on dwelling on the mistakes made by foreign shinobi for long.

“Me?” Axcel pointed at himself for a moment, already knowing the answer to the girl’s question. “Axcel! Zenryoku Axcel” his hand moved from himself and flipped outward, his index and middle finger splitting to form a common hand sign that usually represents peace. Though at one point the Yukikage, Axcel didn’t expect the genin of the new generation--the shinobi who weren’t involved with the war-- to recognize his name, considering he was but the leader of a minor country. Either way, Axcel always gave his name out freely, as hypocritical as it seemed, he felt the whole world should know who he was. It was just how was.

“An alliance, huh? From Kirigakure?” Axcel had just met the Mizukage, Hiromasa, not too long ago. In fact, it was Hiromasa who had allowed the vagabond to to take refuge within the village until he recovered from his weary travels. Upon hearing the older male speak of such an alliance, Axcel couldn’t help but get ecstatic at the thought of going to Iwagakure--despite knowing that the alliance had nothing to do with him. Still, he wouldn’t let an opportunity like this pass up without trying at least!

“So are you two going to Iwagakure now? I’m going too!” He exclaimed, not even asking to tag along.

[/justify]

[Mad-Rock]

Growling under his breath he was quick to unsheathe his machete from the ground and sheath it back into the holster upon his back. Glancing about he slid a hand through his hair before he began to walk away. "Gatta go."

[/color] And with that he'd vanish rather quickly via Flashing Light Steps.

- Flashing Light Steps x4

exit///
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[EVANGELINE]

Wow...that was rude wasn't it, leaving just like that? And Evangeline hadn't even gotten the chance to ask the person's name. But she guessed that that was just for the better as she hoped they'd never cross paths again. With a disapproved look on her face, she would turn once more back to the other man which she would come to learn moments later, was named Axcel. The girl would give him a small smile, one which was not as cold and distant as the last. The thought that the Kiri nin from before had suddenly bolted to God knows where was probably best. She did not really want to associate with him seeing as to her, his motives for being in Iwa was still unclear.

"Wow, he must be in a hurry..." she said out loud as she watched him flash step away from the two of them. Of course she didn't quite have any interest to know where the blonde haired man was going or why he was leaving them so abruptly. And then she noticed that Axcel had been speaking to her at that time. Feeling a little guilty for having dismissed what he had to say, she managed to at least catch the most important parts of what he said. So he was going to Iwa too...and he was not an Iwa shinobi. Then who was he? Could it be that he was from Kiri too? If so...shouldn't the man from before recognize the man at least? Or he could just not know him from the village. Indeed, Evangeline knew close to nobody in her own village which was quite sad. She had not taken part in any group training or missions to have such luxury.

After a moment's pause, she would nod her head. "I'm actually from Iwa and I just came out for a little stroll. It's such a beautiful day out and it was getting boring..." She allowed her sentence to just be left hanging knowing that she had cared nothing about the bright sunny day which had befallen on Iwa. Instead, she would think about a question that she really wanted to ask the man before her but hesitated. As he proposed that they go together to Iwa, she stepped in front of him, not in any way rude but merely thinking that she had to at least be a dutiful Genin. It was a risky thing to do because if Axcel took this as any form of her asking for a fight, she would not know anything about his strength, let alone anything about him. And so, she quickly added. "Axcel...may I ask where you're from? I've never seen you around the village...I just think I should ask before we go to the gates."

[Axcel]

The older male was quick to leave, turning around and flickering away almost instantly after Axcel had introduced himself. All he said was that he had to go and took off. Axcel wondered if he had done something to cause the guy to leave. It looked like he was the one who approached the girl, so it was odd to see that, without warning, he would suddenly leave. Either way, Axcel didn’t care too much--because he was still in the company of the Iwagakure shinobi, and finding people was the point of his little trek in the country after all.

“Yeah. . . Oh well, he seemed boring anyways, right?” Axcel chuckled some as he responded to the girl. The girl went on to tell Axcel that she was indeed from Iwa, confirming his earlier thoughts. Axcel tilted his head upward, looking at the sky and then back down at the girl. She was right--it was really nice out today. Axcel could appreciate the weather here even more so because he was so used to the harsh, unforgiving tundras of Yuki no Kuni. “Heh, you’re definitely right about the weather,” He as he raised both of his hands and placed them behind his head, his elbows pointing outwards as he remained idle.

Suddenly, he found the girl to be standing in front of himself. He didn’t find her actions to be threatening or anything of the sort--in fact, he didn’t react at all to her movement. The only thing that was different now was the fact that Axcel was looking down at her, simply because he was taller. It was not long after her changing of position that she would ask Axcel of his origins. “Ah, I’m from Yuki no Kuni,” He answered without the slightest hint of hesitation. Although technically he was born in Mizu no Kuni, he was brought up and raised in the land of snow, and he was proud to have called himself a denizen of their lands.

“So does that mean you’ll take me to Iwa?!” Axcel said, his eyes lit up with excitement and his grin widened even further. His hands were at his sides now, clenched into a fist as if he were ready to punch the air in celebration. It was obvious he was excited to visit a village he hadn’t been to before. Truth be told, he had no business to be done in Iwagakure--he just wanted to see the village hidden in the stones. “Hey, do they have strawberry sundaes in Iwagakure? Or snow cones? What’s your name, anyways?” A barrage of questions fired one after another--the lad was obviously a bit hyped up at the thought of being taken to Iwagakure.

[/justify]

[EVANGELINE]

The young girl smiled at him as she heard his response to her comment about the rough looking man. The rough guy definitely seemed like the party-pooper type. She would nod in agreement with his statement and then go on. Evangeline saw that he was much taller than she was, which was surprising to her. The girl had thought always that she was a bit tall for her age and rank. But then again...she didn't know either things about the man in front of her. Perhaps after talking to him more she'd be able to know more about him. She was greatly interested, hoping that she could make a new friend. Indeed, the purple haired girl was a social butterfly, liking to make friends and acquaintances every chance she could. And what was better about this encounter with Axcel was that he wasn't from Iwa! He would be her first friend from another village.

Yuki no Kuni...? She had heard only a little about Yuki. The only thing that she was familiar with was that it was a small country and had a smaller village. Oh, and also the fact that the country seemed to be covered with snow, hence its name. Evangeline always wanted to visit other countries and had become rather fascinated by Yuki since hearing about it. She was always fond of snow. But she was somewhat afraid that maybe it would be much colder than Tsuchi. But these trips were just a dream, at least for now. The purple haired shinobi was going to become stronger first before she ever thought about traveling. She was the type of person that didn't want to do too many things at once. Slow and steady wins the race.

Take him into Iwa? She knew that he meant no harm but she didn't quite trust her instincts enough to easily let her guard down. But she was not about to be rude to Axcel. Instead, she took his other comment about the snow cones and strawberry sundaes. Evangeline giggled as she heard the fast stream of questions shooting out from him. He seemed so excited, almost like a kid that it made her chuckle. That was especially because he didn't look anything like a kid, his height and his demeanor. But the young woman found him somewhat cute...in the little kid kind of way. She paused and reflected for a moment, before answering him. "I'm not sure if there are any snow cones but I do think there's an ice cream truck near the exit of Iwa. How about this, you wait here for a second and I'll go buy us some ice creams? I'm guessing you like strawberry flavor?" And she didn't wait for a reply.

But as she stood up, the girl would stop and turn around, hesitating for a second before speaking once more. "It's not that I can't show you to Iwa, it's just that I have to notify the Tsuchikage and others about you. I don't want you to be like an intruder, you know? But I'll tell you what, I'll go get the ice cream for now and then after a little bit maybe I can make a trip to the Tsuchikage Office and get permission? Just right now I'm thinking you want that ice cream." As she finished her last statement, she would give him a wink. Again she would start to take off to the village gates again but she stopped once more, noting that she hadn't answered his last question. Turning her head to face Axcel again, she would give him a bright smile and a bow. "My name's Evangeline but everyone calls me Eva~" Yay, ice cream time!

[Axcel]

It must be Axcel’s lucky day. Not only did he get the opportunity to meet a few new people--well, one really--but he was also getting treated to ice cream. Strawberry ice cream! To those who knew Axcel, it was hardly a secret that the Rokudaime loved all things strawberry. Most notably though was his love for strawberry sundaes. Although nobody believes him, he often claims that strawberry sundaes give him super strength--something he still insists on being true to this very day!

On the subject of getting permission from the Tsuchikage, Axcel’s head sort of hung low upon hearing those words. “Eh, don’t bother asking the Tsuchikage--I’ll see the village some other time!” No kage in their right mind would allow some foreigner to be enter the village on a whim. If she were to give the Tsuchikage Axcel’s name then even if he were to be let in, they would have so much intel on the lad from both during and before the great war that he wouldn’t really get to see much of the village at all.

On the bright side, he was still getting ice cream!

When the girl began to take off and turned around with a wide smile on her face, she would finally tell the lad her name. “Alright then! I’ll call you Eva as well!” The boy shouted as she left, raising his voice to make sure he was heard. It wasn’t long before she was out of sight, and as soon as she was Axcel began to gaze elsewhere, looking for a place to sit whenever she got back. There didn’t appear to be any clear benches or anything of the sort--all there was were a bunch of rocks and. . .well, earth. They were definitely in Tsuchi no Kuni!

Eventually, Axcel would see a couple of tree stumps nearby the area where the Kiri shinobi had came and left from. Whenever Eva showed back up, he would probably do something overly obnoxious like yell her name as loud as possible so she would know Axcel was sitting atop of the tree stumps.

[/justify]

[EVANGELINE]

Awww...the look he gave her was pure disappointment as she said that she had to gain permission from the Tsuchikage and technically the village council before she could let him into the village as the guards would probably hunt him down or something if he got near, even if he was with her. She was only a newly graduated academy student, slowly trying to rise in terms of reputation as a Genin in Iwa. She was definitely not risking to get her new friend potentially killed because of this. But still, it broke her heart to see him this way, as if he was a little kid having his cookies taken away before he could have any right before dinner. She knew the feeling all too well as disappointment wasn't the best kinds of emotions to be feeling. She smiled when he commented that he would visit the village another time. And one sudden thought came to her head...if only she could make Tsuchikage, maybe then she could be able to let him into Iwa. But she quickly dispelled that thought since she was getting way over her head with that kinds of thinking. Evangeline was just a Genin...

But yes, if she ever made Tsuchikage, she would definitely grant Axcel access to the village. That is if by that time he hadn't already entered the village or if he still had interest to see around Iwa. She was letting her guard down to this new acquaintance, already elevating his level in her heart from just acquaintance to friend. She giggled as she heard the man call after her, in a notably louder voice to make sure she heard it. She liked being called Eva and certainly didn't mind if anyone called her that. The young kunoichi would make her way to the village gates again, noticing that the two guards were looking at her kind of weird. The purple haired girl had to relax sometimes as she was rather paranoid about the way people looked at her and the expressions on their faces when doing so. In a matter of seconds upon seeing the guards she would once more enter the village.

Iwa was still bustling with activity like before, she noted. It was the afternoon and people were just out and about doing whatever they were doing. The young woman walked towards the ice cream stand that she was already a notable customer of and bowed to the man who owned it. Yes, Evangeline had a sweet tooth and she was almost certain that she had been bugging this man hundreds of times since finding out about his shop whenever she wanted ice cream. In that respect she was like a child too. The girl ordered two strawberry ice cream cones and then two fudge sundaes for the guards at the gates. They needed to relax and enjoy sweet too and sundaes were perfect since they could still stand guard while safely enjoying them. After paying and receiving the desserts she would walk happily back to the gates offering the guards their sundaes.

They were at least a little less taunting in manner as they seemed when she told them it was a treat from her. The girl was naturally nice, no doubt about it. Once she was back in Tsuchi no Kuni she would walk to where Axcel had been standing, noticing that he was now sitting a bit further from that spot on a large boulder. Indeed, Tsuchi was known for its boulders...and not without reason too. The young girl would approach him, one ice cream cone in each hand and handed the one on the right to Axcel. She loved ice cream and it was great that she had finally found someone that enjoyed it as much as she did. "Here you go...Axcel~" It was the first time she had called him by name. She always preferred to call people by name as to give them that sort of respect. And besides, she treated the man as a friend. Sitting rather carefully on the boulder beside him she would look at him for a moment, smiling.

[Axcel]

When Eva had returned, she had two strawberry ice creams in her hand. Axcel began to foam at the mouth a bit before snapping back into reality and hollering towards her even though she had already spotted him. “Oiiii, Eva! I’m over here!” Axcel could see the the desserts grow larger and larger with every step Eva took towards him, and with every step she took he grew more and more eager. It was almost here, the fabled strawberry ice cream! Axcel may have been acting a bit over-dramatic, but such deserts were practically sacred to him.

“Sankyuu, Eva!” He said cheerfully, his thanks was definitely genuine. He couldn’t have been more appreciative of the fact that the woman had brought him a strawberry ice cream cone. He was practically drooling when she handed it to him. Now that he had something strawberry related in his hands, he was realizing he hadn’t had any sort of strawberry treats in a long while. Even in his stay at Kirigakure, or his journey through Kaminari no Kuni, he never stopped for strawberries Before that was the war--and it goes without saying that Axcel never found a moment to enjoy his favorite dessert during such a time.

It had certainly been a while, but here in Axcel’s right hand rested a delicious strawberry ice cream cone. It was his calling, no--his duty, to enjoy this dessert. “Eva, watch this!” Axcel exclaimed excitedly as he gripped onto the cone thrust his arm upward before quickly jerking it back down, causing all the ice cream within the cone to fly towards the blue sky before soaring downwards, it’s trajectory appearing to be aligned with Axcel’s mouth, which was opened widely in preparation.

SPLAT!

Perhaps it was the fact that Axcel hadn’t eaten anything strawberry related in so long and karma had taken it’s revenge, or maybe the lad was just plain rusty. Either way, the incident that just occurred was nothing short of a tragedy. Time itself seemed to freeze, the young man remaining as still as ever upon hearing the sound that couldn’t be unheard. He didn’t want to look, in fact, every fiber in his being was fighting to resist the urge--but it was all in vain. His head turned slowly towards the painted boulder, eventually stopping when his amber eyes fixated on the disaster.

“E-eva. . .” Tears filled his eyes as he spoke her name, not knowing what else to say.

[/justify]

[EVANGELINE]

[OOC: Sorry very short post >< I loved your post though~]]

Evangeline had only just gotten as comfortable as she could sitting in a boulder and was about to take a bite out of her ice cream when Axcel spoke. Oh, he had a demonstration? Now that would be interesting! She was so happy having met Axcel even though they'd only met today. He seemed to be such a kind and nice guy. Even though she considered herself a social butterfly, she had not really made any new friends since she had become a Genin which was rather depressing for the girl. The fact that she was going to start expanding her social circle with a shinobi that was from Yuki was just all that much more special. 

And...the demonstration failed. As he thrust the ice cream backward, it had ended up landing on the boulder instead of in his mouth. The entire ice cream was wasted! He called her name as he looked at her teary eyed. Her heart squeezed again at his sad look. The girl had a soft spot for people that cry and she really couldn't help but cry along with them if they cried. Evangeline looked at him and gave him a reassuring smile. "Awww it's okay! Here, have mine! I haven't eaten it yet." She would then go ahead and hand him the icecream and then take his empty cone and then took a bite out of his cone and brightened her smile. "Now try to eat normally~ if you drop this one too there won't be anymore icecream. How about you show me this trick when I come visit you? Then you can treat me to icecream?" She really wanted to visit Yuki no Kuni now....

As she sat and ate the rest of the cone, she would heave a sigh. It was a sigh of mixed emotion usually heard when she was alone or was deep in thought. The crispiness of the cone and the remnants of the strawberry ice cream from Axcel's cone provided her with comfort. It was how she dealt with any kind of emotion; by eating desserts. Sweets helped her get through the roughest patches of her life. Turning to face her new friend once more, she would watch him for a second. "So...can you tell me a little about Yuki and your village? I've never been there before."