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Post by England on Mar 21, 2010 20:33:58 GMT -5
The sights and smells of the small chinese port town was so similar and yet so different from the ones in Macau, Cái mused as his gaze traveled over the people down below from his perch on the deck. He loved people watching - seeing them, wondering what their lives were like, what their pasts were like... if they were like him, without memories of much of anything. But mostly, he watched in the hopes that a face would trigger a memory - a glimpse into his forgotten past.
Fingers trailing over the imprint of the dagger up his wide sleeve, he let his attention wander around, listening to the sounds around him in case Yao called for him. It almost never happened, he recalled bitterly, as if the chinese man was certain that Cái wouldn't be up for the task. He could do it! He could do anything Yao asked him to do! He owed the man so much and yet -
- wait. His eyes focused in on a face in the crowd that felt... so familiar. That got his attention - a memory? Or a figment of one? There was only a quick glimpse of the face before the person turned away, hair tied up in a familiar ponytail...
His mind caught on the image of longer hair - someone he loved desperately had long hair tied up - someone hurt? someone left? For a brief instant, he remembered himself young and calling a fuzzy faced woman 'mother' - who had hair the same style and color as the person below him.
Without giving it any thought, he jumped off the ship and pushed through the crowd, his only thought to find her - find his mother who would know why he was this way - why he couldn't remember, why he felt so sad when he thought of her.
"Mother!" he called, grabbing the person by the shoulders and spinning her around only -
-it was a man. Familiar - so familiar, but why? - but definitely not his mother (even if he couldn't remember her face, he knew he'd know what she looked like if he ever found her). A great sense of sadness and loss swelled in him as he let the man go from his desperate hand, letting both his hands clench at his sides.
"S-sorry... wrong person." he managed to choke out, forcing his emotions to stay down and not cry.
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Post by Portugal on Mar 21, 2010 21:36:37 GMT -5
It wasn't the same, he decided as he walked through the port city, idly tossing the brand new compass from hand to hand. It didn't have the same feel as his old compass. But it would have to do, after all, Lovino had strictly said if he didn't come back to the ship with a new compass he was good as fish food. And considering the rumors that the first mate had been with the mafia... Ah, Afonso rather not risk it.
With a yawn, he rubbed the back of his neck, pocketing the new compass. He would just get use to it. Hopefully. That was all. And now he probably should be heading back to the ship. Antonio had said he didn't want to stay for long. Which was a bit unlike Antonio, but there was nothing he could really do about it right now. With the exception of heading back to where the ship was.
He had to wonder what dinner was tonight. He was hungry, and he really could go for some codfish... But knowing the captain it would be something with tomatoes. It always was. He was getting really ti-
Any thoughts came to a sudden half when he was grabbed by the shoulders and spun around to face a young man. His hand instinctively flew to the pistol he kept at his waist. He didn't draw it, there was no purpose. Especially when he saw the heart broken expression on the others face.
He could be a little late. "Are you lost?"
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Post by England on Mar 21, 2010 21:55:49 GMT -5
Trying to bring up enough of a smile to keep the man from asking any more questions (god he hated when people asked him things - are you ok? are you sane? do you remember? did that hurt?) he shook his head faintly. "N... no... I'm not... I just thought you were someone... else." he trailed off, mind already forgetting WHO he was looking for.
The man in front of him, of obvious european descent, seemed friendly enough on the outside and was smart enough to be cautious - he saw the hand gripping the gun and was pleased by it. Good. Defend yourself... they'll get you if don't.
They? Who? Reaching up to rub his forehead distractedly, he looked around, looking for that someone...
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Post by Portugal on Mar 21, 2010 22:55:42 GMT -5
He frowned a bit at the other's behavior. The smile didn't fool him for a moment. And against his better judgment, he removed the hand from his pistol. He had to tread carefully. Something didn't sit right.
"Are you sure? Maybe I can help?" He rested a hand on the others shoulder, but retracted quickly as a jolt went through his entire body. He couldn't stop the shudder, nor the wince as his head gave a painful throb. The images of a life he once lived rushing through his mind. And... And he had known this boy? How though? They had never met before... But before... He was...
Shaking the thoughts from his head, he looked towards the boy, smiling at him. "I'm sure someone is looking for you. I can help if you'd like, I'm pretty good with maps."
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Post by England on Mar 23, 2010 17:57:29 GMT -5
He opened his mouth to deny any help - how could this man help if HE didn't even know what and where to find what it was? - when the familiar-stranger reached out and touched him and -
- the sound wasn't coming through... had he lost his hearing? ... he couldn't bring himself to be worried about it as he turned to the scene in front of him. He was shorter - much shorter, probably around the height of a five year old, legs bare beneath a long, filthy shirt, skin equally dirty. His hand, covered in an even longer sleeve, reached up to rub his cheek, smearing mud and grit onto his face, but he couldn't find himself caring.
He crouched, suddenly wary. There were people coming - foreigners... one of which he recognized right away as Yao, the man who frequently showed up to tell him what to do, and whom he frequently chased away with balls of thrown mud and sticks. The other man was... strange looking... with paler skin and curly brown hair, wearing odd-fitting clothes.
The two men whispered between each other, looking earnest and sending him sideways glances every few moments. Crouching in the mud, he grabbed up a mucky fist full, he waited patiently for them to come closer so he could launch his attack...
Yao and the man shook hands, both looking satisfied, with the older asian man walking away while the stranger came closer. Perplexed as he was, it didn't stop him from hurling his muddy projectile right onto that shiny metal armor of his and feeling immensely pleased by the action. The reaction he got wasn't the same as with Yao, who generally got mad but ran away to save his precious silks from further damage... this new man rolled his eyes and kept coming.
Feeling nervous, he reached down to grab another handful of dark mub - but by the time he straightened back up, the foreigner was kneeling in front of him, an amused look on his face. Tensing and backing up a step - the last time he'd been in Yao's arm length, the man had cuffed him harshly over the ear - he glared at the man, who smiled and held out a hand with something... tasty looking in it.
Suddenly being reminded of how hungry he was, he chewed his lip at the dilema - get closer and grab those nummy looking treats, or stay back and throw the mud in his hands? His stomach growled, letting him know what it wanted, so, letting the mud slip from his hands and wiping the rest of the muck off on his shirt, he grabbed the treats quickly, hoping the man wouldn't grab him.
The man stayed where he was, not moving more than a muscle as he devoured the incredibly delicious candies. When he was done though, he quite suddenly found himself up in the air, pressed up carefully against the cold metal of the chestplate, one arm supporting him from the bottom, the other hand suddenly filled with a handkercheif, was wiping at the drying dirt on his face. Protesting to the harsh rubbing, he leaned back, but when more of those treats were offered, he let the man do as he wanted as he crunched his way through them.
"Hello there, little one. Will you come live with me, M****?" the man's accent was really hard to get through, but as far as he was concerned, so long as the man kept giving him those tasty candies, he wouldn't mind staying with him. He looked up into his face and it looked so much like-
- in the space of a moment, the odd memory hit him. Odd because he didn't remember being that small... or knowing this man, who looked nearly the same when he WAS that small. Eyes wide, pupils shrunk to pinpricks, he stared at the man. Who was he? Why was he so familiar?
His thoughts were interrupted when the man smiled at him - and it was identical to the one in his "memories". Mind catching up to what was being said to him, Cái shook his head. "No... no one is looking for me. I... I am the one doing the looking and... I don't know who I'm looking for..." he was beginning to feel one of his headaches come on - and boy, with the rate it was growing, he could tell he'd be in for a hell of a night.
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Post by Portugal on Mar 24, 2010 20:42:11 GMT -5
A little boy, that's what he had kept seeing. A young boy, who looked an awful lot like a smaller version of the young man in front of him. A little boy that would continue to look up at him, holding out his hand. He rubbed his temples, trying to ease the head ache the best he could.
He had yet to determine what to think of those flashes. Of those dream-like memories. Maybe Arthur had been right when he suggested that they were memories from a past life. He wasn't sure.
All Afonso knew was that somehow he knew this young man in front of him. Not that he knew how or when they had met.
He couldn't stop the small frown from tugging at his smile. No one was looking for him? Was he an orphan then? But surely someone had too be looking for him...
Maybe he was running from someone? The navigator couldn't be sure. But he knew he just couldn't leave him alone now.
"I'm Afonso," he offered, before noticing the slightly pained look on the others face. It reminded him of the expression he always made when his head aches were particularly bad. Without a second though he slipped his bag from his shoulder, sorting through it before pulling out a small bag of candy.
"Here," he offered it to the other, smiling at him still. Hard candies, he discovered, worked marvels at easing his head. Of course, it was hard to keep his secret candy stashes away from his captain and other crew mates. "Sometimes these help when I have a headache."
((Ffff this is such fail orz; -could not counter the epicness that was your post-))
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Post by England on Mar 26, 2010 11:33:58 GMT -5
Candy. Candies so similar to the ones in his hallucination... was this for real? Or was there more to those odd dreams than he thought? Hesitantly, almost fearfully, he reached for one of the candies - they felt the same as they did in his dream fingers, smelt the same and.... tasted the same too.
He was so sick of feeling so lost. The annoying prickle of frustrated tears just made him more upset - why? why couldn't he stop crying? What bothered him so much that his body started to cry? - and he wiped angrily at the tears as his headache built.
"Why?" he blurted out, almost as a sob. "Why is this so familiar? Why... why can't I remember?" he remembered that Yao told him he shouldn't wipe his face on his sleeves but he did it anyways, probably ruining the silk with salty tears and snot.
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Post by Portugal on Mar 26, 2010 18:08:04 GMT -5
"Hey... Come on now, don't cry." Afonso hated seeing people cry. It was just something he couldn't stand. And the moment he heard the almost sob his body moved. With a great amount of care (because he didn't know how the boy would react) he pulled him into a hug. The action felt familiar, the strange sense of deja vu returning. He couldn't place it, he couldn't understand -
He was suddenly somewhere else. He was in a home, walking through a hallway, pausing outside a doorway. Quietly he opened it, peeking in, hearing muffled sobs. A sigh escaped him as he walked into the room, taking a seat on the edge of the mattress. He reached out quietly, resting his hand on the lump beneath the covers. "Did you have a nightmare?"
The little lump didn't move, and he sighed pulling the blanket away carefully. And just as he though, the little child hidden beneath had tears running down their cheeks. With a gentle smile he shifted, pulling the child into his arms, idly wiping the tears away. The little child looked so much like the young man that had been in front of him. So much.
"It's alright, it's alright." He murmured, rocking the child. "Nothing's going to harm you. I've got you."
He hummed, singing a soft lullaby beneath his breath-
Singing, he was singing without even realizing it. That same song from the strange scene. Afonso didn't even realize he knew the old lullaby, but the words continued to escape his lips without hesitation. It left Afonso a bit bewildered, but he pushed that feeling aside, rubbing the others back in hopes of helping banish the tears.
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Post by England on Mar 29, 2010 12:47:45 GMT -5
He gladly accepted the shoulder and the hug, burying his face and just letting the tears go to a song that was so achingly familiar and yet completely new to him. Clinging to this man made him all the more real - realer than the dream version of him anyways, making it easier for Cái to put the dream further back in his mind.
He wasn't quite sure how long he stood there, leaning on the other man and sobbing - but he started to be more aware as to the people who were staring at them. With a quick backpedal, he was out of those warm - familiar, comforting - arms and wiping the remains of his tears on his sleeve again. "S... sorry..." he managed to mumble out. "I... usually have better -" he sniffed loudly -"control than that..."
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Post by Portugal on Apr 3, 2010 0:37:23 GMT -5
Afonso had not expected the other to return his hug. The navigator had fully anticipated being shoved away. Needless to say however, he was rather grateful not to be pushed away. Or at least not immediately. He remained silent, observing the boy as he spoke, continuing to wipe his eyes on his sleeves. And Afonso just waved a dismissive hand at his comment. "We all need a good cry every once in a while."
And it looked like the other needed that, not that the Portuguese man was going to say that. Glancing around he took note of the eyes on them, before returning his attention to the other. "How about we go sit down someplace?"
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Post by England on Apr 4, 2010 12:22:58 GMT -5
He gave a quick glance back behind him - Yao's ship was still there, but he found no desire to go and hide there after his breakdown. Chewing his lip nervously, he turned his attention back to this stranger - who was instantly as familiar as the chinese man but more comforting and warm than anything he could remember experiencing.
So he nodded, accepting the invitation without another backward glance. If Yao wondered where he was, he could damn well come and find him.
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Post by Portugal on Apr 5, 2010 22:59:34 GMT -5
He followed the boys gaze back to the dock, eyes lingering on a ship with a somewhat frightening (and familiar) flag. He opted though to ignore it. Afonso didn't know whether or not the other was from that ship, or merely just looking off. And he wasn't going to question it further. Right now all he could focus on was trying to help him.
Offering his hand, he smiled to the other. "Why don't we try again? I'm Afonso."
He had long since stopped introducing himself by his full name since Antonio decided to tease him about it's length.
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Post by England on Apr 6, 2010 16:54:41 GMT -5
For a long moment he looked oddly at the outstretched hand before he realized that Europeans shook hands instead of bowing. Reaching tentatively for the hand - in case it caused another one of those hallucinations - he shook it, offering a very faint smile. "...Cái..." he mumbled, the first dregs of embarrassment filtering through his system as he really came to realize that he'd broken down crying in front of someone whom he'd just met, familiarity be damned.
"... where would you like to go?"
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Post by Portugal on Apr 6, 2010 20:24:50 GMT -5
"It's nice to meet you Cái." He smiled, though that faltered seeing the confused look he recieved. Laughing nervously, Afonso rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah... It probably is more customary to bow... Isn't it?"
He really needed to remember these things.
Glancing around he blinked, before glancing at Cái. "I... Don't really know this city very well. So I wouldn't really know anyplace good..."
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Post by England on Apr 6, 2010 20:40:09 GMT -5
Nodding quietly, Cái found he didn't mind the other's rather obvious absentmindedness - it made him think of something... really familiar. He nearly knew what it was too - it was just on the tip of his tongue...
Looking around quickly, he noted the various buildings in the general area - most having something to do with the ocean, be it trades, bars or hiring stations - but... over to the far side, there was what appeared to be a tea shop.
"... I'm not from around here either, but... over there." he pointed, long sleeves slipping over his fingers so it looked as if he was gesturing with cloth instead of with hand. "It looks like... some place quiet."
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