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Post by onlyafiction04 on Nov 7, 2016 5:53:20 GMT -5
Chihiro Fujisaki was again in the main performance tent. It was fixed already, thanks to the fixing magic of the cirque members here. It had been a while now since an assault happened in the circus and peace was ruling the whole area, specifically, now in their Nairobi hideout.
The young programmer in crossdress was sitting in the floor, below the main stage. He was typing something in his laptop, while having a lollipop on his mouth. The screen was opened in a window, filled of strange codes. There was also a smoking machine beside him, connected in the laptop. He was trying the assembly program that Gowther had given to him, or just stolen from a guy back in the shop back in Salem.
Not a long time, Chihiro's eyes widened, seeing his program aborted to close. "AAAAAGH! NOT AGAIN!" he yelled in both anger and dismay.
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Post by inakamoto on Nov 7, 2016 6:16:58 GMT -5
Maria crossed the main stage as she flipped through the information displayed on her computer pad. It had been some time since the assault, and now that Zemo was targeting the cirque, she had been busy reviewing their security measures. She knew it was only a matter of time before he struck again. Add onto that Arnim Zola's participation in this scheme, and things were certainly-.
"AAAAAGH! NOT AGAIN!"
The sudden outburst caught Maria completely off-guard. She jumped at the sudden outcry, and almost dropped her pad. After the initial shock, she began hastily looking about herself. She couldn't tell where the voice came from, it was hard to get an accurate bead on sound sources in the main tent. She paused a moment and listened. She couldn't hear any other noises, but she was certain someone else was here.
"Hello?" she called out.
Knowing her luck, she half expected to see a ghost pop up from the floor in front of her.
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Post by onlyafiction04 on Nov 7, 2016 6:32:19 GMT -5
Chihiro violently ruffled his head. It was a rare case on his life as a programmer to make a small mistake on his coding. He just forgot to add a certain number. In such frustration, he stood up to unleash his anger, "Ahhh! I just forgot to—"
He was cut short, hearing a "hello" above the stage. Quickly turning back he saw a lady with uncertainty or what or anything as it made the young brunette frozen on his spot. Waving his hand unsurely slow, "...Hi?"
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Post by inakamoto on Nov 7, 2016 16:30:13 GMT -5
Maria turned when she heard the greeting from behind. Inwardly, she felt a sense of relief to see a young girl in the back-stage area. At least, that's what she thought at first, looking at the person's attire. After getting a better look at the person's facial features, she suddenly became unsure. She decided to keep her preconceptions to herself; this was 2016, after all. After quickly regaining her composure, she turned to fully face the newcomer.
"You work for the cirque?" Maria asked after quickly clearing her throat, "I'm afraid I don't recognize you."
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Post by onlyafiction04 on Nov 8, 2016 0:42:11 GMT -5
"Uhh... Yes, I am hired here some months ago... I work as an effects technician here," Chihiro answered politely. He knew it sounded reasonable that even staying in the cirque for months already, only few people recognized him. He was commonly stuck in the sleeping tent or in the main tent.
Scrutinizing the woman, Chihiro pondered that she seemed dignified and by her looks, Chihiro felt a sudden nausea inside him. But setting aside of it, he bowed slightly and said, "I-I'm Chihiro Fujisaki by the way... If you have some technical support or concern, I'm here to serve you..." He thought that he must be able to do his job well as the cirque's technician.
Sent from my SPIN2 using Tapatalk
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Post by inakamoto on Nov 11, 2016 9:26:37 GMT -5
Maria continued to give the new person a quick look-over. He seemed well-mannered, maybe a little awkward, but about as normal as a person could be in a place like this. She thought she saw a hint of him looking a bit sickly, but decided it was probably nothing.
After a few seconds, she walked up to the boy and offered her hand, "Maria Hill, a pleasure to meet you, Chihiro."
She did her best to look as friendly as possible, hoping to put him more at ease. With any luck, he wasn't yet aware of who Team-X was, or of their complicated past with the cirque.
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Post by onlyafiction04 on Nov 12, 2016 6:33:31 GMT -5
Chihiro was frozen at a moment. It was probably he was a little bit surprise that the woman offered her hand. As far as he knew, his boss in the past was having the same aura and figure as an authority like this woman. But he introduced himself first, so it might be the reason why they ended up by the shakehands formality.
Now knowing her name as Maria Hill, Chihiro accepted her hand. He didn't want to look rude though. "P-Pleasure to meet you, too, Ms. Maria Hill..." He had no idea now what to say next. He lack the skill of talking or surviving a sudden conversation. Running out of topics, he scratched his head gently as his eyes suddenly fell on her other hand, holding a computer pad.
It tinkered his curiosity, the technology was way too advance compare to their current time. His eyes were locked on the pad and seemed had no plan to gaze away from it. "That's a little futuristic..." he commented, being drifted again in fascination with technology.
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Post by inakamoto on Nov 12, 2016 7:44:08 GMT -5
Maria couldn't help but feel sorry for the kid, seeing the painfully awkward look on his face. It was nice to see his was a friendly face, but she could tell social interaction was not his best quality.
"Maria's fine," Maria said assuredly, hoping to ease whatever tension he may have been feeling.
When she saw he'd taken an interest in her computer pad, she looked down at the down at the device, paused a brief moment, then held it out for him to look over.
"It's a government-issue device," Maria explained, "pretty state-of-the-art; helps me with my job. I hope you're not thinking of taking apart, are you?"
That last line was meant as harmless teasing, and she hoped he wouldn't take it too seriously.
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Post by onlyafiction04 on Nov 12, 2016 7:54:59 GMT -5
Chihiro lifted his sight to her, saying calling her on the first name was fine. A small twitch curved on his lips, nodding as affirmation.
Maria seemed to notice his fascination on her device as when the woman held it out for him, his eyes sparkled in joy and even having a shaky hands, he almost touch it. But as what the lying elders used to say, never ever touch anything never belong to you. That idea halted him up, but showing still his kiddy excitement with technologies.
"Wow..." he exclaimed to himself, hearing her explanation about her computer pad. His smile turned into a grin but fell a flustered face again when she mentioned if he had been thinking of "taking it apart". "U-Uhh no... A-Ah... Sorry, I'm just uhh... fond of technologies... But it is nice really! I'm just curious on how is it made..." he shyly explained.
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Post by inakamoto on Nov 14, 2016 3:50:28 GMT -5
Maria let a small chuckle slip, seeing the young boy fidget over her teasing. She thought it was adorable how he expressed such wonder over the technology in her hand. She never really had the same kind of appreciation for such things as he apparently had. She figured it was probably something that came with being young and wide-eyed.
"Relax, kid," Maria said reassuringly, patting Chihiro on the shoulder, "just a joke. I take it you don't talk much with too many other people?"
In a way, she could sympathize; being a work-a-holic herself, she didn't have much time for socializing either.
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Post by onlyafiction04 on Nov 14, 2016 9:14:23 GMT -5
Chihiro's face became redder. He was way too embarrassed that he was acting too childish and geeky in some way, causing probably Maria to chuckle. Now he probably needed a proper training on how to become a socialite person.
Chihiro calmed down a bit when learning it was really meant as a joke. Upon receiving a pat and a question, the young programmer just rested his finger on his lips.
Nodding, "...Y-Yes..." he answered shyly, "...I believe I suck at talking with people... Even I met a lot here... It happens that... I am no fun to talk with since I always come up with technical terms..." he pondered a little bit, "...But the people here in the cirque are so nice! P-Please don't get me wrong... Well I am mostly stuck here in the tent every now and then..."
It was a sudden opening up of who he really was. He wished that she didn't mind his slight pessimism or rather his weirdness. Introverts like him was always having trouble with interacting with others, but he was glad in a sense that Maria seemed to understand his dire situation.
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Post by inakamoto on Nov 16, 2016 16:37:49 GMT -5
Maria couldn't help but find Chihiro adorable, especially with his face as flushed as it was. It felt good having a casual conversation like this. She'd always been told she needed to take a break every once in a while. And from their conversation, she surmised both of them could use some practice in socializing.
"Well, like my grand-dad used to always say," Maria said, imitating her grandfather's Southern drawl, "'Y'all ain't never gonna learn how ta talk right if'n ya can't open yer mouth.'"
Maria almost felt like laughing out loud at herself; how long had it been since she last quoted her grandfather, of all people?
"Anyway," Maria continued, "what he meant was the only to get better at socializing is talking. So, how 'bout you tell me about yourself. Like...where you're from?"
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Post by onlyafiction04 on Nov 22, 2016 5:53:14 GMT -5
Chihiro chuckled a little bit with Maria's imitation of her grandfather. It was a coy laugh, but he ended it up sooner since he was afraid to anger her up. But the fear suddenly disappeared, sensing that her mood seemed to be in good state. His cheeks turned pink, realizing that her grandfather had a point. He had this problem of social fear to the point that he would not approach people unless he was necessary to do so.
"U-Uhm..." She was asking him now. Well it would not hurt trying to socialize, right? He got along already with others and befriended them already. This might be a good practice to overcome his social fear in a way.
"...I originally came from Japan... specifically, Tokyo, my birthplace... We just moved in Massachusetts two years ago because of my father's job... And... and..." he was cut short, feeling an odd nausea on his stomach. He crouched down fully, gripping his stomach and covering his mouth on the other. His perspiration was continuous as he looked up to Maria, "U-Uhh... Sorry..."
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Post by inakamoto on Nov 23, 2016 8:58:13 GMT -5
Maria felt some comfort from hearing Chihiro laugh. She never said it aloud, but she enjoyed making children laugh. She surmised it might've been part of some instinct for looking after little ones hardwired into her DNA. She smiled gently as she listened to Chihiro talk about his hometown. It sounded like he'd gotten around before coming here. But then, her smile was replaced with a look of concern when she saw him double over. Immediately, she knelt down to his level, felt his forehead with one hand, and began rubbing his back with the other. His face felt clammy, she worried if she had pushed a little too hard.
"Hey, it's alright," Maria said reassuringly, "just take slow, deep breaths."
A part of her hoped he wasn't about to puke, she wasn't prepared for that kind of situation.
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Post by onlyafiction04 on Nov 23, 2016 9:14:11 GMT -5
Inhale... Exhale...
Chihiro followed her instruction and after taking breaths, he forced a smile. For one thing, it was unnecessary but he suddenly pictured his father from her on the way she rubbed his back. It felt warm when he felt her hand on his forehead as it made him flushed once again.
"...I think I just felt a little dizzy..." he fetched a lollipop on his skirt pocket. It was his manner to eat sweets when he was feeling dizzy, a thing he learned when he was a kid. But, before he could place it on his mouth, his hand trembled, slipping the sweet stick from his hold. "Oh..." he muttered to himself, "...silly me."
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