Survival 101

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Who: The NEET siblings and YOU
When: July 24th
Where: The Safari Lodge where else Specifically, the second floor (maybe you'll spot them making an ice machine run), or if you're lucky you might catch them at the cafe briefly
What: Maybe you saw them during the initial welcome, maybe you didn't. In any case, you probably haven't seen them since, but it's not like you'd be worried about 'em or anything, right?


     Day 1 of their grand vacation getaway. No sooner had Sora and Shiro been allowed to escape to find their lodgings had they done so. It had been way too much excitement for one day, and between being stuck in a plane for almost an entire day and then a helicopter, only to be released into foreign sunlight with dinosaur-shaped trees, they had been past exhausted, even with their already screwed up sleep schedule. So it was that they had completely passed out the rest of that day.

     Day 2 for the siblings began around half past noon, and that was only because the light had started to stream in through the window at just the right angle to become annoying, resulting in two bleary-eyed Japanese kids finally rousing from their bed. ...and then panicking a few seconds later when they realized that they weren't at home. It took them a moment more before they recalled where they were and what they were doing here, a few minutes of lying on the bed again to lament the cruelty of their parents for sending them away, and then, because the sunlight had by then found another perfect angle to pierce through the shutters, they were finally prompted to get up to do something about it. The comforter from the bed had been converted into the ultimate blackout shade, the AC had been adjusted to a suitably comfortable temperature on the thermostat. Clearly it was time for them to do their most important set-up if they wanted to survive the three weeks of hell away from home.

     That would be to unpack their video game console collection. They'd only managed to bring with them several systems, two being handhelds. The light had to be turned on for ease of hooking things up, and Sora had come prepared in case they needed to do any adjustments to the television connection and add something like a coaxial connector. So it was a bit of a pain, but it would be worth it. Leaving Shiro to heat them up some water in the coffee pot, they could enjoy the first two of their stock of cup ramen that they'd also packed away, and by the end of the day, they had the Playstation, Sega Saturn and Super Famicom hooked up and were well into Pop n' TwinBee.

     Day 3 started off like day 2, only that they woke up around two. The rest of the day had been spent indulging in games, although out of curiosity they decided to flip through the park channels to see what all would show up on the dino-enclosure channels, later on.

     And then Day 4....

     Again, the siblings were not early risers. When they finally did wake up, it was about three or four in the afternoon, and it was about that time that they decided to see what kind of food they might find at the cafe, since the both of them decided that they were a little hungrier for something more solid than ramen. They'd definitely be keeping an eye out for vending machines on the way. If they weren't hindered by any unexpected run-ins, they'd scamper back to their little floor two hideaway in room 201, where it would probably be a repeat of the day prior unless someone or something else happened to break their routine.

Comments

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That was her curse: to be adored like so by many, only to be very cautious of whoever was speaking to her at the time. That was an exaggeration, of course, but she would work with it.

"It can't be helped," Shiro nodded solemnly.

With tousled hair, the little girl turned to the other man, blinking once. "You have sisters?"

[peoples_keeper]

Izaya laughed lightly through his nose at the pair, he could only imagine how Sora might have been in the seven years or more he was not joined at the hip to his sibling. "It also depends on the parental situations, well there's a lot of variables involved but since you two seem to shy away from social interactions while enjoying the same activities it makes sense."

He looked back to Shiro, "I have two, they're twins. We have a 9 year gap between us."

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     He was terribly unfulfilled and knew it- but he wasn't thinking about that right now, so he had no reason to be a sobbing mess. To Izaya's thoughts on the matter, Sora merely shrugged. He didn't feel the need to verify or explain anything.

     "Twins, huh?" he mused, turning as the server set their food items (on trays and not at all looking like they were prepared for take-out, much to his disappointment) there on the counter for them.

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A small sound of wonder escaped Shiro. It was still hard to believe the man had siblings younger than he was.

"Ama~zing."

[peoples_keeper]

The informant let out an exaggerated sigh, "Yes, twins and I wouldn't say amazing; they're quite the handful you know."

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     "No common ground with your sisters, then?"

     Sora picked up one tray of food, looking at Izaya. "Care to grab that one, Orihara-san? Since you're the one that requested that much dessert," he reasoned. Not that he'd wait for a response as he turned to find a table with Shiro.

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Shiro latched onto Sora's shirt hem, tottering beside him before pausing to look back at Izaya at nearly the same time.

Surely there had to be some kind of bond between siblings, right? They couldn't have been a handful all the time...maybe???

[peoples_keeper]

"Common ground, huh?" He appeared to look thoughtful for a bit while he picked up the dessert sampler tray and followed the two siblings. "Other than having unusual names and a several mutual acquaintances, not so much really." He slid the tray onto the table of Sora's choosing.

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     Having plunked down at a corner booth, Sora let Shiro slide in first before he'd sit beside her. He arched a brow at their third wheel as he moved dino-shaped chicken nuggets from the tray to set before himself and his sister.

     "...you think they would've liked a place like this?" he asked as he picked up a vaguely ceratopsian-shaped nugget, tentatively dipping it into the container of barbecue sauce that had come with it. He made a face after the first bite, setting the container aside thereafter. "I dunno what it is with Americans and this stuff."

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Scooting in, Shiro made sure that her hair was not dragging behind her so that her brother would accidentally sit on it. Bunching up all of it between her hands, she let it cascade down her back messily.

Large eyes nearly sparkled at the dinosaur-shaped nuggets as the tray was set. She picked up one that was shaped like a stegosaurus, nibbling on its backplates.

[peoples_keeper]

"Sure, for about a day or so. It's a little more exotic than your run of the mill zoo so I'm sure most people would be curious at least and want to see it once in their lifetime, especially when someone else is footing the bill." He slipped into the side opposite of the siblings, sitting close the the edge indicating that he may not stay the entire time. That should put the older one a little more at ease.

"Americans probably wonder the same thing about the Japanese and mayo and soy sauce," he replied with a smile to the bbq sauce comment, "what's your choice for a dipping sauce? Also, are there any on here that either of you won't touch?" He motioned to the dessert sampler.

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     "Eh, I guess that's true. Wonder how they even went about picking people for this thing. ...unless they're really playing up to the Asian tourist stereotype."

     And there was quite the handful of Japanese, from what he'd noticed at the welcome thing. That was one of those things Sora couldn't help but notice, anyway.

     He chewed on the tricera-nugget's head with a shrug. "Mayo might not be bad, but these seem fine plain. Tomato ketchup might be all right, but these're just chicken nuggets so why get too fancy?" In other words, he didn't feel like putting in the effort into it. But these two could live off of power bars and cup ramen...

     "Hm." Sora eyed the dessert, arching a brow. "It all looks pretty sweet. I think I'd just stick to the ice cream there. Shiro, I'll leave the rest of the decision to you."

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"I like them as they are," Shiro quietly added before continuing her nibbling. She was almost done with the piece she had in hand.

That was something she had noticed as well. While there was a mix, the Asian population made a good chunk of the welcomed tourists for three weeks of torture...fun.

She looked at the desserts as they were suggested, eyeing everything in her silence. That slice of cake looked good. Ice cream was always a treat. And what was that one over there?

Big eyes slowly looked back up at her brother and their "friend," expressing a large amount of indecision.

[peoples_keeper]

"That's a possibility for sure since I'm sure it's not likely because of Japan's economy which is only in moderate recovery. Ah, but I did read that there were a lot of Japanese investors involved in the project so that might have a little bearing on the number here. I expected more from the UK or Australia myself."

Izaya took note of their preferences and filed them away in his head space. Facts like these weren't all that interesting or even necessary but their personalities were beginning to fill themselves out at the very least. It would be fun to see them out of their comfort zone, maybe a couple days without electricity and possibly a plumbing problem to get them out of their room. His brain began concocting a few ideas that he really had no intention on following through with but they were amusing to think about.

“I believe that’s peach cobbler. Then there’s tiramisu, raspberry tart and of course fudge brownie sundae.”

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     "Hm," came his noncommittal response as he continued to work with that piece of chicken. As far as things went, Sora didn't seem to invest too much care in who all had been brought out here himself, although he probably preferred it be anyone but them.

     Noticing his sister's indecision, he chewed thoughtfully on the tail of his first nugget as he looked at the dessert spread. Izaya's explanations certainly helped out at least, because as far as things went, a lot of the desserts he'd named didn't look anything like what they'd see in pictures from Japanese bakeries.

     "It's probably a lot sweeter than what we're used to, too," he reminded his sister. He pointed at the tiramisu, figuring that had to be the most mild of the ones Izaya had pointed out.

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Foreigners and their sugar content. She would never understand that.

"Hou."

Shiro thanked both wordlessly, bobbing her head a couple of times. She reached over for the tiramisu, drawing the platter over to where she could eat it without any problems. Still, she paused. "...You two. Eat something." she urged softly. "We might waste the desserts." Because that was an important matter here on the island they couldn't get off of.

[peoples_keeper]

Izaya smiled and rested his chin on his open palm and with a small laugh he said: "It's only a quarter past four, this is generally the time when old people eat. Your schedule appears to be little off kilter." For the time being he made no attempt to touch any of the desserts.

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     Mirroring Izaya's position, Sora didn't seem very enthusiastic about eating, but he finished one piece and picked up another, this one resembling a tyrannosaurus. "Later," he replied to Shiro as he waved the nugget dismissively.

     "...schedule's been off kilter since we got here. I don't think we've adjusted yet," he said, although truthfully their schedule had been pretty screwy even before they left Japan.

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To her brother, Shiro shrugged. "Suit yourself."

To Izaya, she nodded to echo her brother's reply. "Perhaps Shiro is also an old soul..."

And she popped that piece of tiramisu into her mouth, unblinking.