Misfortune Has a Way of Bringing People Together (OPEN)

[Seiji (DELETED 6165)]

(No need to worry about PMing or asking, feel free to just hop right in! Or fall. Falling is a fun option.)

There were three food items Seiji placed above all when it came to preference in taste. Warm, creamy pasta, ice cream (preferably butterscotch) and hot chocolate. If there was anything that could cheer him up on his least favorite season, it would be the styrofoam container of creamy, cheesy penne nestled in the crook of his arm, and the mug of hot chocolate spiced with pudding spice cradled in his freezing fingers. It helped ease his own sting when it came to thoughts about the new gloves he'd lost just the day before, not two hours after purchasing them. Watching the flakes fall delicately on the white-washed landscape, he sipped the latter of his two items, placed it aside, and began to pick at the former.

Winter had only added to the already pale features he was beginning to display, hardly flattering in the way they contrasted the heavy half-circles beneath his eyes, giving him a bruised, unhealthy look. Idly he toyed with the iron pill he was meant to take, tossing the idea in his head that he might simply give up on them. As far as he could tell, they were doing little good in balancing his supposed low blood pressure problem, but when he'd tried once to avoid taking them he'd only wound up in the hospital once again. The thought was depressing enough for him to bury in pasta promptly. It wasn't a thing he wanted to dwell on, when he was so content with other aspects of his life.

Never having been one to spend money often, but working nevertheless to fill his days and cover his place of occupancy given to him by his boss, Seiji had found himself with a decent set of funds and little place to spend them. He'd purchased a few books, as well as some art supplies to fill his time, and meals had taken up little, the same to be said of clothing. Aside from these, the only purchase of any interest he'd made had been a small, simple gun. He couldn't remember what it was called, only that it was easy to hide, and ever since his little adventure in the sewers he'd been convinced to keep it on hand. Not that his aim had improved any since then. Half the time he tried to convince himself he'd simply imagined it, and had been too afraid to contact the few he'd known from the crowd he'd been with to confirm if what he'd seen was real. Instead, he brushed it off with the same uneasy care he did his sudden anemic episodes.

Life had been.. difficult before. The sudden stability of a job and possible friends was a fragile thing, to him. The thought of such strange things he'd seen being possible threatened that stability, and so he was more than happy to push them aside. There were more important things to worry about. Such as: how he intended to get home with half a plate of pasta. Normally, the ten block walk wasn't overly life-threatening, but Seiji had always been clumsy. Not just simple stumbles here and there, no. From full out strings of accidents that left him with bruises for weeks, to dangerous, almost life threatening moments that kept him on the edge of his seat, every day had it's risks. Though he'd long grown accustomed, winter was always the worst.

Snow. Ice. Dangerous drivers and low visibility. Winter was the one season he hated with fever. It was the season that always almost took his life. It was the season he'd lost his family.

More things he didn't intend to think about. Finishing off his hot chocolate and closing the remains of his supper, he stood. By some miracle, he made it five steps away from the small park bench he'd sat down at, but that was the farthest his daily record would stand, it seemed. On the sixth step, his foot found a particularly slippery patch. Without warning he was falling, tumbling head over heels down the side of a small incline, and sliding across the smooth surface of a partially frozen lake. Penne clung to his coat and hair, leaving a devastating trail along which he'd fallen.

With a small, injured groan, he tried to sit up. A loud crack of ice made him freeze in place, snapping his eyes open. He was fortunate, having landed on a solid enough section instead of the still unfrozen pieces, but that was where his luck ended. With each tremble or shift of his weight, the ice beneath him creaked in warning, and he could see the hairline fractures arching away from his person. Hardly daring to breath, Seiji took in his surroundings without turning his head. The sun was starting to set, and it was the middle of the week. The small, forgotten looking park centered around it's pond was unlikely to be occupied at this hour. Taking a shuddering breath, he risked a shout for help, then quickly shut up as the ice snapped loudly. Resisting the urge to bolt for the shore a good five meters away, Seiji shut his eyes and did a thing he rarely did.

He prayed.