[Asia] Firecrackers and Eyebrows (Iggy~)

[firecracker]

Jia Long wiped sweat from his forehead as he stepped into Hong Kong. He’d been separated from Veata sometime ago and had decided to wander in whichever direction felt the most lucky. Apparently he still had some kind of attachment to the city he’d been found in because he’d ended up wandering right to the edge of his old wandering grounds. The smell of sea air and the call of birds was oddly relaxing and nostalgic.

“I don’t think this is what she meant by going on an adventure.” His lips twitched into something of a smile and he wandered further into the city. If he remembered right there would be a market near the docks that he could restock his supplies at. Maybe he’d even rent a room if he could sell a couple fireworks. He doubted he had enough for any kind of reputable place but a seedy little pub room would work just fine. Anything but the ground again.

About an hour in he began to hear the sounds of people gathered in a large group. He’d made it without getting too lost. The people selling fireworks usually gathered closer to the water so they could show them off every now and again. He made his way in that direction until the crackle of firecrackers came to him.

There it was, his favorite group of market stalls. He’d loved coming down and just watching them as a child. As he was moving toward one of the booths to get a look at the wares a child ran in front of him. To avoid running the poor girl over he came to a sudden stop. Unfortunately the person behind him didn’t and knocked Jia Long forward onto the ground.

[Arthur Kirkland]

Arthur had always been interested in going to the city of Hong Kong, but in all his traveling, he'd never quite made it that far. The asian city - which belonged still to the United Kingdom, despite some tensions between China and his home country over such - was a mass of sound and smells that had a foreign tang to them that caught his senses and made him breathe deep with every inhale. Letting his legs take him wherever they chose, Arthur quickly found himself in a rather disreputable area and feeling like he'd been there before. Which was rather impossible unless Rome had taken him here before - something he didn't believe happened, for the Italian liked to stay in between North America and Europe for his hunting.

The odd feeling grew stronger and stronger, making him pause in the midst of a crowded intersection. Apologizing as he was cursed at for blocking the way, the Brit wound his way to the edge of the crowds, just looking around. It felt familiar to be here. And.... if his "feelings" were right, the docks would be straight down from the next intersection if he turned to the right. His urge to wander quickly dwindled as a dreaded curiosity pulled him back into the tide of foot traffic.

Turning the corner, he wasn't sure whether he should be surprised or not to see the docks in the distance and the muffled sounds of explosions near them. Much like a waking dream, Arthur's feet led him on a determined path to what should be there but he shouldn't know it was there, so what-

As distracted as he was, he didn't notice the boy in front of him coming to a sudden stop until he'd already run into him. "I beg your pardon-"

And the deja vu increased as he glanced at the face of the boy in front of him. Perhaps he had been here at a younger age, because he could swear he saw an overlay of the same face but younger - much younger - on top of the boys. What was going on here?

[firecracker]

Rolling over to see who crashed into him, Jia Long frowned slightly. A foreigner? They usually avoided the docks unless they had a ship stationed there. Most of them considered the dock workers to be unsettling. Sometimes even scary with how rough they could be. Jia Long remembered considering the same men the ideal image to grow up into.

Now he was more keen to be overlooked than the center of suspicious attention, but the boy still though that the dock workers were better than some of the people scattered about his city.

“I beg your pardon-”

Well he could beg all he wanted, but Jia Long wasn’t about to trust a foreigner on his apology alone. Getting back up the bushy-browed boy brushed off his clothes. “It’s fine.” His response was curt, a small accent in his speech.

Jia Long turned to go when something caught his eye. Bushy eyebrows, above green eyes, looked remarkably similar to the things he often cursed in the mirror.