The day was not a nice one. It was drizzling as Daisukay was running along the beach. He wanted to try and test his strength his will by swimming in the icey water but even that was putting him off. The wind was whipping and with the light rain the cold was almsot unbearable already. Anyone to come out in this weather must be MAD.

But then again Daisukay hated being indoors, especially seen as he was working 5 days a week now at the inn. There was barely anyone else on the beach bar one or two. But who ever was out must have a reason.

Dai stopped for a second to catch his breath and considor about going in the water again. "Ummm maybe in a min...." He muttered to himself.

(OOC:sorry its not a great setting but I wanna know what you come up with for your reason for being here :P Make you work a little)

<sup>Erin Frost lived by the words "live it up". Afterall, we live, but not forever... why waste our time? So very seldom did Erin spend her time sulking in her own self-pity... but today happened to be one of those seldom occurrences. She woke early, trembling and beaded with sweat-- she had that dream again. Though, the term 'nightmare' would be more appropriate. Although she was drunk and completely lacking lucidity when the accident took place, she remembered the moment perfectly. A recollection perfect enough that it's every little detail haunted her dreams sometimes still; her subconscious, even. If her mind was still, she found that the accident was the topic it would turn to-- so, she kept herself busy, always.

She could not afford to think about it-- that was behind her now. At least, that's what she told herself. She also kept telling herself it was an accident; people make mistakes; to err is human; and so on. But she still couldn't fool herself. She killed a child-- he had his whole life ahead of him, and she took it away within the time it took for her to lose control of the car and slam into him. Guilt still overwhelmed her when she allowed herself to think about it-- really think about it.

Her mind typically came to the conclusion, 'A life for a life...right?' But after her last attempt to apply that old saying, she never tried again. Afterall, she wasn't a suicidal person... she was a guilty person. On days when she did allow self-pity, she did quite literally nothing the entire day; secluded herself from people. It was a small form of punishment, being a people person and all. Aloneness drove her insane. But when she got out of bed and peered out of her window, the sky was a shade of grey similar to her eyes; the weather was, in a word, nasty. It was drizzling and it looked to be windy. So she showered, dressed in jeans, an old band shirt and her grey jacket, and left.

If it weren't for the weather and the fact it was winter, she would probably have gone to the ocean and swam out her problems, her grief. She wasn't entirely sure where she was going until she got there: her feet were on autopilot. She was slightly confused when she found herself at the cove; but she figured it was because she was thinking about it.

So she simply stood, clothes and hair already soaked from the rain, and let the rain beat down on her and watched the waves crash rhythmically, as they always did. She was surprised to find that she was actually... cold. Erin pulled her jacket closer to her, but it was a pointless gesture; her jacket was wet, too. Someone ran by her, and paused not too far from her; she assumed he was taking a break. Erin was about to call out to him, a habitual kind of thing even in her current mood; but she bit her tongue. That did not, however, last long. Curiousity got the best of her. "Why run in this weather?" She inquired, just loud enough for him to hear her over the rain and the waves. Because surely, physical fitness could wait a day.</sup>

Dai looked round as someone called to him. It was a young woman, immeditaly Dai's heart made a little leap. She seemed to be one of the few people, like himself, to be a half-elf. She was soaked through as he was now. Both their hair whipping in the wind. Every few minutes Daisukay would have to pull the wet soggy mess out of his eyes.

Then he snapped back to her question because she had not simply yelled at him, she'd asked him why he was running. "Why not, on a beautiful day like today?" A cheeky smile slid onto his lips because he was being obviously sarcastic. I'm not sure, just to be outdoors I guess, and to keep up my training." Dai was watching this girls body language closely, She was obviously cold but thats not surprising out in this weather, but the way she held herself she seemed to carry a great weight on her shoulders, her eyes occasioanly glazed over as if her mind was elsewhere. All was not well with this one...

"And yourself? No sane person would be out here without good reason." In waiting for her reply Dai felt his pulse in his neck, it was slowing. He immediatly started doing some sort of pattern, each time muttering under his breath as he did a move. To some people it would seem that he was then ignoring them, but he wasn't. He just needed to keep busy. It was just the way he was. "Sorry do carry on, I'm listening, just keeping relaxed and my heart rate up."

Erin didn't even take notice the fact he was half elf, like her. Any other time she would have been surprised to know that; pleased, even-- in fact it was a question she had asked herself mere days ago: 'Are there any other half breeds like me?' --but at this moment, she barely saw him at all. The rain clouded her vision slightly, and she was more focused on his current actions rather than his features. Erin did note his long hair, though, and the fringe that kept sliding into his eyes; he would periodically pull it away. Erin occassionally kept doing that, too. "Why not, on a beautiful day like today?" He gave her a sarcastic smile, one that Erin would normally have returned with a laugh, even. It took her a moment, but she finally smiled. He seemed to drop his jokingness after noting her body language; she made a note to make it less obvious.

"I'm not sure, just to be outdoors I guess, and to keep up my training. And yourself? No sane person would be out here without a good reason." Erin paused for just a moment; resisted the urge to be coy and tell him that his own statement was questioning both her sanity and his. She couldn't say that it was clear when she had left her room at the inn, because it had been raining since last night. So Erin gave a small shrug as she responded, "It seems a shame to let something as small as rain to keep me indoors. I like being outdoors, too."

He went into motion again; not running, but going through some sort of pattern; routine; something she'd never seen before. He murmured as he moved; but to her dismay she couldn't hear what he was saying. To Erin, it didn't seem much like he was ignoring her. She knew the tendancies of men and how they could focus on anything and everything but the person who was talking to them, and were still capable of listening. But afterall-- she had interrupted his session; Erin on any other day probably would have told him to not mind her, to continue on doing what he was doing, but not today. "Sorry, do carry on. I'm listening, just keeping relaxed and my heart rate up." Erin nodded in understanding, though she didn't really understand. The snow-hair girl wondered, as she pulled some hair out of her lashes, if this was a part of his daily routine. "Training...what are you training for?"

||Sorry it took me so long.||

"Training...what are you training for?" Dai paused, breaking his pattern and standing still yet with one arm still extended after a punch. This question stonked him, as he found it hard to put into words what he was training for.

"Um, well I guess, just to improve," Daisukay paused then carried on explaining "Improve my martial arts, fitness." Dai carried on till he finished the pattern. Then stopped and face the girl.

"I had to be so forward, and don't take this in the round way but... Is everything ok? I don't know you, but you seem a bit down." A serious look dawned on Dai's face, it was half forced so that she knew he did really care even though they'd just met.

<sup>"Oh," said Erin simply. She wanted to do what he was doing, to copy his pattern (the word 'kata' flashed suddenly through her mind), to give herself something to do. The girl almost did, but fought the urge; he might think of it as rude, or that she was mocking him-- which was not at all what she wanted. As she watched him, she suddenly realized that she would probably be quite self-conscious if a complete stranger were watching her train (not that she 'trained' in the first place). And so, she suddenly averted her eyes, although she wished to see the rest of the motions. Out of her peripheral vision she saw that he stopped and faced her; Erin did nothing to let him know she noticed this.

"Is everything okay? I don't know you, but you seem a bit down." Erin turned her head and focused her grey eyes on him only when he spoke; his tone was different than before. And now that she could see him, she saw that his expression also differed. This surprised her very slightly, and it showed. "Do I? Perhaps it's the rain," Erin mused. Once more, she made a mental note to perk up. She wasn't really being untruthful, either-- the rain sometimes did cause her to be down. It was a natural thing; it even happened to people who thoroughly enjoyed rain. It could not be helped. Erin absently wondered if it was a psychological thing or a state-of-mind sort of thing. She didn't know.

"Just thinking. I think today is just one of those days-- y'know?" Erin added this all as an afterthought, thinking it would be rude to shut him out completely. Afterall, he was allowing her to cut into his training time and being very sportsmanlike about it. As Erin always did when she saw people with hair longer than hers, she began to envy it. Because she was so indecisive, the moment it grew past her shoulders, she'd cut it off, but instantly regret it. It happened often; it was a vicious cycle. She was used to it. "What did you say your name was...?"</sup>

"Well don't let it get to you too much. We all have those days and well like days they turn into nights and then its a completely new day. Just don't let it disrupt your week. Move on you know? Or do something about what evers troubling you, sort it out if possible. Oh I'm Daisukay by the way." He held out his hand for a formal introduction, and after they'd shook hands he bowed.

"So why the Starshell Cove? I know the seas relaxing, but today, well I can think of better places to rid sorrows."

(OOC: sorry it took me so long to reply, rl took over)