Strike one! (Austin Brandt)

[DEAN COLLINS!]

The world was in a microwave oven. This microwave oven was turned up full and the dish wasn't turning so Death City was right underneath light. Well, at least that was what it felt like to him. He would rather be inside doing something else, but Dean had a knack for getting into stuff he shouldn't. For example he shouldn't have gotten into his black, leather biker jacket today. He also shouldn't have got into the open air where the sun(oh the evil sun) could reach him. His arms burned way too easily so he couldn't tie his jacket around his waist, and the sunblock brands didn't agree with him. Every brain cell screamed 'Stay indoors! You're gonna die!' Or maybe that was just him imagining things. Weather aside though, it was worth the temperature torture. Death city was one of the most fascinating cities he'd ever been too. It was in some aspect, a normal city. It felt differently though. Maybe it was because Shinigami-sama's soul was bound to it. But it felt powerful and had a certain mystique to it. The souls of passerby were curious too, the souls of some meisters and such were very strong and gave the intensity that battles could spring up at any moment. Considering he was a shibusen student, this happened more often than not.

The park was a good place to go. Despite the open areas, it was quite calm and quiet sometimes. He zipped down his jacket revealing a Johnny Cash t-shirt, matching nicely with his denim jeans. His t-shirt was the only light colored clothing he wore and the slight coolness he now felt on his front was blissful. Dean stuck his hand in his pockets and trudged on slowly. Taking in all the details, admiring the scenery and exotic smells traveling to him from flowers. If you ignored the sizzling glare it would be easy to lose yourself here. He gazed up at the sky and stared at birds looping round each other, and a few clouds drifting slowly along, minding their own business. "Cloud huh?" He muttered aloud, memories of home jumping into his brain. 'Cloud? Let's see if you like flying out of the door then!' This rather painful response had been gained by demanding Cloud be what his father addressed him as.
Lost in thoughts and memories, his badly trained soul perception kicked in and he barely registered someone in front of him in time. He quickly stopped just narrowly avoiding them at the last second."I'm really sorry about that. I was a few miles up there." Dean apologized, attempting to smile.

[AUSTIN BRANDT!]

[atrb=border,0,btable][atrb=style,width: 380px; padding: 20 0 20 20;][atrb=style, background: url(http://i51.tinypic.com/25qr9qp.jpg); box-shadow: 0px 0px 5px #999999;,btable][atrb=cellpadding,0][atrb=cellspacing,0] Today had not been a kind one to Austin Amsel Brandt. She barely managed a meager three hours of sleep between cramming for a test and a nightmare. She hadn't had a nightmare in several days, but this one was a nasty reminder that struck her up from her sleep and had her staring off somewhere until it was time to get ready. Like a zombie from an old horror flick, she'd moved across the floor, slow and wide-eyed. Needless to say, it was a fantastic way to start the day. When the test rolled around, she dozed off for five minutes. She didn't have time to finish it. Normally, she wouldn't care if she didn't finish a test. As a whole, she didn't much care about the parts of the academy that didn't involve learning how to massacre kishin. This class wasn't about that, either. But the thing that really bothered her in this case was that she was actually passing that class- and not just getting by, but actually doing pretty well with a B. It was pretty easy and the teacher wasn't completely annoying. She hoped the unfinished test wouldn't bring down her grade by much. As she'd stepped outside later, she'd overheard some kids talking about a park, and playing on a basketball court. Logically speaking, if there was a basketball court, there should be a baseball field, too. Tired but excited, she made a beeline for the park. Only to be disappointed; she looked all over the place, but not a single square was to be seen. No chalk lines. No machines that spat baseballs out at you. For at least ten minutes now she'd been standing against this fence that surrounded the basketball court. Her fingers were laced through the chain-link as she stared through it with utter contempt. Suddenly, as she snapped out of her torrent of thoughts, the sound of footsteps against concrete met her ears. It was close to her. She wanted to ignore it, but paranoia kicked in. She whipped her head around to see who- or what- it was, and found that it was just some kid, who narrowly stopped before running into her. Her eyes narrowed at the stranger, but after a moment or two, she decided he wasn't worth the effort to be angry with. “It's fine,” she finally said after a strained moment. credit `` columba of on the edge!

[atrb=width,110px][atrb=style,padding: 20 20 20 0;][atrb=cellpadding,0][atrb=cellspacing,0] do you know the name of the winner?

[DEAN COLLINS!]

Dean felt a sudden chill enter his body that, even though he would normally be glad for it, felt unnatural. He wasn't scared or intimidated by this peculiar girl, it was just the fact that a sixth sense informed him she was not a person you wished to piss off. Not in the slightest. He was intrigued by this and waited in silence for a few moments. She had also waited before speaking but this appeared in Dean's mind she had been contemplating something. Whether it was sinister or not he had no clue, and while he had no wish to find out what it was, he kind of did in a way. Examing her he noted with slight suprise, although he shouldn't have been, that they went to the same school. He had momentarily forgotten he was in Death City, and students ventured out here all the time, whether for fun, food or going back home. Dean also noticed that she seemed put out by something. Something minor but big at the same time, an every day occurence so small most people would move on but she was amplifying through...longing? He couldn't place it, he still wasn't very could at using his perception. So Dean, after careful thought and consideration lasting all of ten seconds, attempted the old fashioned way he was used to. Communication between people. "Ummm....Hey! I'm Dean," He rather hoped he wasn't being too forward with this simple introduction, "Is, something wrong? You seem slightly upset about something. Forgive me if I'm going too far, if you don't wish to answer then that's fine."


Obviously he was going too far. Dean was addressing a stranger, someone who he had nearly walked into and here he was, questioning her well being for reasons, still quite unknown to himself. He knew he liked making friends with people but this was unbeleviable. That sense to not piss her off seemed accurate, and he wouldn't be shocked if she hooked a few times until he hit the ground. A nice warm day and he was sticking his nose into other people business. Wow. Score one for Dean, if he did it any more he could become a reporter. He glanced down at the ground and fidgeted with his t-shirt. Johnny Cash giving the finger at San Quentin didn't seem to set the mood right for this situation. Slowly zipping his leather jacket up he felt slightly awkward about this and was considering just leaving without her answer, but then he wouldn't find out and she'd most likely hit him for being rude. He wasn't sure what was worse.

[AUSTIN BRANDT!]

[atrb=border,0,btable][atrb=style,width: 380px; padding: 20 0 20 20;][atrb=style, background: url(http://i51.tinypic.com/25qr9qp.jpg); box-shadow: 0px 0px 5px #999999;,btable][atrb=cellpadding,0][atrb=cellspacing,0] ”...Hi,” was her simple response. First he nearly ran into her, now he was trying to introduce himself? She would never understand her peers- she assumed he was from Shibusen, anyway. Her eyes drifted away, but came back when he went on. Prying. People here had such a habit of doing that. Why? Instead of letting him see her mildly irritated but at the same time curious expression (which, more than likely, was no different than the expression she'd been wearing before), she turned back to the fence. “It's nothing.” This guy was...kind of awkward. He was wearing a leather jacket in the heat. Not even she would do that. Granted, she didn't have a leather jacket, but if she did, she wouldn't. It was too confining. She preferred something that let her move as much as possible and that wouldn't hold in heat. It was an awful thing to be wearing with the weather like it was. Why didn't he take it off? It kind of bothered her. Was he hiding something? She noticed his shirt, which was perfectly fine by her standards. Was it that? That was stupid. What was wrong with him? While these thoughts went around in directionless circles in her head, she continued staring off through the chain-link. She guessed it might be possible to play baseball without all of the lines and bases and all that, but it didn't feel right. It was a horrible oversight in the design of the park. Not everyone who came here wanted to play basketball, she was sure. She could certainly say so for herself. But really, she'd much prefer a batting range, complete with the ball machine. She doubted that many of the people here were good at baseball, or even so much as played it. But if they just had the cages and the machine, she'd come here almost every day. She'd even pay for admission every day. If she had to pay the machine and the construction off all by herself, like hell she would, if only for the chance to play her favourite sport- or at least pretend she was. It then occurred to her that the boy was still standing there. This was...awkward. She'd expected him to have left by now. Why hadn't he left? He still hadn't taken his jacket off, either. It was really starting to bother her. “Aren't you hot in that?” was what she said when she finally spoke up. If he'd said anything while she was in her thoughts, she hadn't heard it. Hopefully she hadn't; hopefully her question didn't seem so very out of the blue. Though when one got down to it, she didn't suppose it would bother her too much if it had. She just wanted to know why he had the damn thing on on a day like this. Why she was so obsessed with that would have been nice to know, too. credit `` columba of on the edge!

[atrb=width,110px][atrb=style,padding: 20 20 20 0;][atrb=cellpadding,0][atrb=cellspacing,0] do you know the name of the winner?

[DEAN COLLINS!]

She ignored his question. Hmmm, so he had gone too far. Of course he had known that already, realised as soon as he had spoken, but the confirmation was welcome all the same. Welcome in a sense anyway. Moving swiftly on, what the hell was with wrong with him right now? He was usually more relaxed than this. It was more than that, it wasn't only that she wasn't a person you wanted to make angry, that element was clearly there. Even with his crappy soul perception - which, incidently, became slight fractions clearer the longer he stood looking at her, but it was no major difference - he could tell that. It was also that he, personally, didn't want to piss her off. At last his fatal flawed had kicked in since arriving. He was attempting to befriend someone. The heat of the desert sun - yeah, even Death City had location problems - was slighlty quenched by a light breeze that just rolled in and Dean was glad of it. It cleared his head a little bit and his brain needed the space for this. Dean followed her eyes in her staring and noted where they landed. Something was up with this park, it was evidently missing something in this girl's eyes. He'd been right with the longing then, she was missing something this park didn't have. It wasn't basketball, they had a court here. Soccer? Maybe, he wasn't a fan but that didn't mean others wouldn't be. Or the other one. With the bat, the game with several names and variations of play. In his old school they had called it Rounders, quite pathetic for a name but it had seemed cheerful enough in his mind for young kids. What was it called....

Baseball!! Of course, with the homeruns and everything! He couldn't believe that he forgot that. Boy would his.....dad......be annoyed if he ever discovered he'd forgotten that. Well, Dean might just tell him anyway for the hell of it. It would be a few years anyway and he would most likely forget. No short term plans for any home visits and he was keeping it that way. Then the girl spoke to him again, and her response took him by suprise. Blinking, he looked down and realised, with a wry chuckle he replied. " A little since I zipped it up but not really. It's either this or watch my skin skip tanning and burn off in very painful chunks." It had been a very randomn question, but Dean hadn't really noticed. "I guess you were zoning out a minute ago since you didn't answer me, but it's cool. I decided I shouldn't have asked you anyway."

[AUSTIN BRANDT!]

[atrb=border,0,btable][atrb=style,width: 380px; padding: 20 0 20 20;][atrb=style, background: url(http://i51.tinypic.com/25qr9qp.jpg); box-shadow: 0px 0px 5px #999999;,btable][atrb=cellpadding,0][atrb=cellspacing,0] Another minute or two passed before she responded again, a simple “I see.” Slowly, she pondered over what he'd said. If he sunburned as easily as he stated, then what was the point of even coming out here? It was either getting your skin to peel off or baking yourself within a leather jacket. Why leather, anyway? Couldn't he get something that at the very least didn't hold in heat as much as a leather jacket? And what about sunscreen? This boy was very odd. She was glad that she, having not sunburned much since she was little, did not have to worry about these things. Perhaps that was the reason why he seemed so strange. “Then why come out here on a day like this?” she finally decided to ask. It was a simple enough question. If he hadn't come out here in the first place, he wouldn't have to worry about getting a sunburn versus being cooked in the confines of a jacket. Had he stayed inside, none of that would have been on his mind right now. It's not what she would do, but people seemed to have this thing where, if something seemed difficult, they just didn't do it. She preferred to face adversity, head-on. Otherwise, she'd be left at the dorms to envision fingers falling down the stairs. Or maybe she never would have made it out of that house in the middle of Nowhere, Germany. She would have been dragged up the stairs, too. The thing's jaws, closing around her- No. She wouldn't think about that. A shiver ran down her spine in spite of the heat. She wouldn't think about that. Her eyes met him again, just searching for some way to get out of her own head. Quite suddenly, she announced to him, “My name is Austin. Austin Brandt.” Suddenly, it felt good to say her own name. She knew she was alive, that she'd made it out in the face of odds that would have overwhelmed most. She was Austin Amsel Brandt, and she was alive. She made it. And she was the last Brandt left in her family line. credit `` columba of on the edge!

[atrb=width,110px][atrb=style,padding: 20 20 20 0;][atrb=cellpadding,0][atrb=cellspacing,0] do you know the name of the winner?