Just a walk in [Musutafu Park] [Open]

by Strange Rhetoric Sun Jul 22, 2018 6:36 am

For what it was worth, this was simply a respite from the harrows of daily life.

Ornery beams of light snuck their way through the gaps in the walls the leaves offered. They were unreliable in that sense. You couldn’t count on them to keep the festering rays out of your eyes when passing beneath the wooden guardians. Squinting, keep walking. Damn sun’s in your eyes. The weather’s nice, but it’s hot. It’s not something you notice at first, the heat, but the walk progresses and you notice how heavy your shirt starts to feel despite the loose fabric. You made sure to pick a lighter shirt this morning before you left because you knew this would happen. The more you move the world’s whispers feel like a reassuring pat in the right direction, pushing you forward even if just a step by cooling you off just when you think it might be time to turn and retreat. These small conversations with the wind kept one’s pace controlled.

That’s why Renault’s walk could progress. Despite those same complaints of heat and light, it was the cool goads of the air that could give him strength to ignore them. He envied the people who could run all day in hot or cold. Though not a slouch himself, it was easy to admit to oneself that your exhaustion was because of the heat. That you weren’t spending as much time as you used to exercising. No, it was much easier blaming the heat. So he did.

And so he did.

Those cool whispers lingered within his ears. Bouncing within the walls of his head. Whispers, but not from the wind. Small pieces of a conversation desperately tried to tug at him but the distance between them made it such a strain. Words left to be unheard, falling to the concrete biking path that Renault’s walk had placed him on.

“...-y don’..”

What was that? Evidence of a conversation was met with scrutiny, globes searching for a source his own personal habit making him the kind who generally looked in the direction of a noise when he heard it. Why would one ignore something if they didn’t know what it was? He figured. Still a search was intended to be completed. Those same eyes observed an rather average looking woman speaking to an honestly dour man. Whatever this conversation was, it had taken a turn in a direction out of the man’s favor gauging the equally sullen look that had rooted within his features. But a conversation of this sorts, or really any between strangers, didn’t grip Renault with intrigue. Instead he observed the two parties before noticing a small object at the woman’s feet: A simple bottle of water. It looked like the sort of bottle joggers took with them, larger than one you might find in a grocery store as well as it being maroon in color.

Normally one might dismiss that little detail. But not Ren; in fact spotting it stopped him. His first stop since this stroll had started. Tanned hands reached inside the pockets of the white jeans he wore - another bad idea for the weather, in retrospect - briefly inspecting the contents of the vault before retrieving a handful of change. One could never leave without bringing some change ‘just in case’. Two spotlights, on Renault and the woman in question.

Perhaps somewhere a higher power had missed a detail and began combing through the recordings of life for it felt as if Ren’s world had slowed to an absolute stop. It was a bad deal. A bad trade. But the idea of water was alluring. The idea of it being in his hands made him all the thirstier, the cool whispers from the breeze no longer spoke to him or if they did their voice had been diluted by the presence of another. When making a trade, Ren’s hands always felt like they were shaking. Vibrations running through the palm. Was this part of the deal? Or maybe it was his mind playing tricks on him.

“You want it..” that conniving little shit of a conscious hummed within the inner workings of Renault’s mind. “..It could be yours. Why not? Even if just for a second..” Again, the devil on his shoulder. It was hot. Wasn’t it? And he had been walking for awhile. That woman wouldn’t mind, would she? If he had just a sip and gave it right back. She wouldn’t even notice. He’d be quick. He made a name for himself back in his youth to speak for his talent. And it was a park anyway, she was in the middle of a conversation, did he even really need to return it? If he took it right now and left then they wouldn’t know. No one would know. It’d revitalize him. Bring life into him. The heat seemed like chains now and the water a key to release him from the stress the chains drug him with. A sideways glance. The other way. No one was ‘close’ enough to see in detail what he’d do. Or with the ‘heat’ playing tricks on him that was what he believed. The literal snap of a finger and whatever he wanted could be in his hand. Temptation had ruined stronger men. It made slaves out of kings.

But with a snap, came reality. A mere blinking of the eyes cleared his vision. The pulsing within his hand ceased. No. He wanted to, but to steal it- right in public like this? That’d be stupid. Like a bad habit he couldn’t quite kick this. But he knew when he stole, he had to be smart. Danger was spelt for those who got caught, doubly for those using a quirk to do it. It wasn’t worth it right now. That poor other guy though, getting yelled at like that.

But he digressed, this was just a walk in the park after all, not any of his business.