Somewhere in Central Paris | April 14, 2012 (08:29 AM)
`Yeah, kinda guessed my accent'd make it obvious I'm not from here...` Leonard thought to himself when the Asian dude mentioned neither of them being Parisian.
Taking another bite of his sandwich, Leonard thought to himself a bit while making sure not to miss anything if this fellow decided to keep talking. It might have seemed a bit rude to start eating again instead of answer the guy's inquiry about him not being from Paris, but considering he had taken a sip of his coffee just now it likely did not matter if Leonard failed to give an immediate reaction. The very little he could make out of the guy's clothing was that he looked like a hipster, which technically meant they both had a rather 'casual' fashion style. Leonard was kind of used to the stereotype that Asians were serious looking workaholics in suits, but this guy looked like a street punk similar to him. Both were wearing hoodies as part of their outfits, but neither of them actually had them up at the present time. He had noticed the wristwatch when the guy raised his hand to drink his coffee, and had also made a mental note of the headset around his neck. Leonard had a headset of his own, but it was currently in his bag since he wanted to take in the sights more aesthetically. Unfortunately, that headset had not made it any easier for him to sleep on the plane -- there was
way too much on his mind.
`'Rein'...? That... doesn't sound all that Asian -- unless this guy's from an English speakin' country or somethin' an' his parents gave 'im an Anglican name, maybe...` Leonard contemplated, shrugging slightly to himself. At the very least, he was somewhat glad he could stop mentally calling this guy 'Asian dude' now -- not that he was being racist or anything, but it was sort of weird.
Leonard continued to chew the ham, cheese, and tomato sandwich. He was aware that a lot of people disliked eating tomatoes, especially when raw or by themselves, but he had always loved it and actually ate them on their own a lot of the time -- something else he had picked up from his dad. The expression on Rein's face as he eyed the sandwich gave Leonard the impression he was one of those people who disliked it, but it was hard to be sure -- just the vibe he got from his body language.
Rein had not mentioned anything about - or seemingly even reacted to - the daggers that Leonard was equipped with, but they were admittedly sheathed on his belt in a way that concealed them quite well. He did not seem armed either, but then again not everyone lived in a neighbourhood where you pretty much needed to be ready to defend yourself at any moment. It did make him wonder even more about where this guy was from, but he figured he needed to respond to the previous question before saying anything else, and he needed to introduce himself. Luckily, the fact that he started taking a bite to eat moments before Rein had asked him something gave him plenty of thinking time. Honestly, Leonard could go off into his own world sometimes and lose track of where he was -- not the best habit for someone who lived in a violent place.
"Yeah, you too..." he said after swallowing his current bite of food, "Name's Leonard -- ya can call me Leo, if ya like." he continued. He wanted to reach out his hand and offer to give the guy a handshake, but he was unsure of what culture he was from or whether or not it would be offensive or hostile somehow. Leonard was not all that educated, but he was very street-smart. Not to mention that he often avoided shaking hands with people simply to prevent a potential sneak attack. Besides, his hands were both full -- could not exactly shake hands even if he wanted to.
"I'm not from around here, yeah..." Leonard said to get back to the previous comment, "On a trip from New York -- first time travellin', actually." he continued, being honest as usual. It was strange for someone who lived in a bad neighbourhood, but Leonard was the type who disliked hiding things needlessly.
Considering he had just said where he was from, Leonard thought perhaps Rein would state where he came from in exchange, but was not particularly expecting it or anything -- he
was curious though.
It was not unusual for Asian people to be tourists; in fact, he knew of a lot of stereotypes involving it, but the fact that there was no distinguishable accent to Rein's voice as he spoke English made it difficult for him to believe this guy was from an English speaking country. Generally speaking, Asians who were born outside of their country ended up having the accents of those around them (in the same way that Leonard sounded like a New Yorker because he was
from New York, not because he was a Caucasian), so this guy's lack of a distinct accent meant that Leonard immediately could not help but naturally wonder about where he was from. Sometimes, when Asians he met spoke English - and it was not their first language - it would come out sort of weird, making it difficult to understand what they were saying at all. Such a problem usually disappeared if the Asians were born in the country, or their parents were. This guy's English was clear enough in contrast; however, the lack of a distinguishable accent was hard to really ignore due to that.
American, English, Australian, New Zealander -- they all had a distinct sound to them that was easily recognized. In particular, Americans could often have their state worked out by accent. Leonard was confident about his assessment -- whether Rein actually came from one of those places or not, he did not
sound like he did. It was virtually impossible for a westerner not to notice that. Either he was not from one of those places, he had a weird speech pattern, he moved around a lot, or he was trying to
hide his real accent. Given how Leonard lived in a society where people wore masks and lied to each other - which he despised - this possibility was not out of his mind.
Member
