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After certain things go not at all as planned, Ryoji is a little bit exhausted. That's not as emotionally and physically draining as going to the Underworld would have been, but he's certainly in no shape to try after that or he may very well get stuck down there. Which would be very, very bad.

He is actually going to look for whatever might make people more 'real,' even if he's got no clue what that actually means. He knows something's off, can feel he's forgetting something, but for the life of him he can't figure out what it is or if it's even relevant to the current issue. There's some vague wanderings to the park, and he stops by the coffee shop for a desperately needed pick-me-up, and he goes to the library to get in touch with the Twilight Network. Looks like no one has a clue what he saw, but at least some people offered to keep an eye out for him.

Wherever you find him, though, there's one constant. He looks exhausted.

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That's more than anyone else has had so far. "It was telling me I should go somewhere, that going there would make me... less? Whatever word it was trying to use I couldn't understand, but when I asked it said less-real, or less-substantive? It said I had a purpose, and I would lose it if I went."

"... Huh. That's... weird. I... wouldn't mess with that thing if I were you. I have... mm. What it's probably connected to isn't anything to do with the Dark Mother... so I don't have much information, just what my friend's told me. But it's dangerous, and not something that you can really fight. If I'm right, at least." He... doesn't want Ryoji getting mixed up in something like that. Not when he's such a nice guy... he doesn't want him to get really hurt.

"Well, when I didn't look like I was leaving it was probably going to attack me with its really, really sharp fingers, so..." Yeah, he sort of found that out (almost) the hard way. "I'm probably going to run into it again, unfortunately... I asked if it would left me through if I found something."

Tobias scrambles to his feet, eyes widening. "Don't! Don't try to deal with those things, don't bargain with them. Don't give them what they want, but don't challenge them directly. I'm telling you, Ryoji. Just don't deal with those things. Stay away from them."

He swallows hard, trying to retreat back into his Horror's senses to keep from feeling fear. "They're bad news. And they don't care about human lives. They're stronger than you are, and if you draw attention to yourself around them, if you make yourself interesting, you're going to die."

Ryoji listens to him, coffee still warming his hands. He's... well, Tobias clearly knows more about this than he does. But whatever it was cared about something. It struggled with the idea of him helping people versus him (possibly) getting hurt. "I definitely won't go looking for it," he promises Tobias, because... well, he's not. He'll still look for what it wanted, but part of that's just to figure out what the hell it was talking about. "And I think I was just really unlucky this time. I can probably make my way around it."

But if he doesn't... it'll be ok. He's already died once. He's a lot harder to kill now.

"... Okay. Just... be really careful. You can take me if you want... I'm pretty good at figuring things out." Maybe he can't see or experience the same things as Ryoji, but he can fight.

And if he dies, he won't be all that disappointed.

"I don't think you can go where I need to go," Ryoji says, "And even if you could, it would be a really, really bad idea. But I wouldn't mind company on the way, if you wanted." He likes people. And in place of an actual krewe, just people who know a bit about what's going on is great.

"Well, I don't think you can go some places I need to go, so that's fair." Even if he could bring him into his lair, it... probably would hurt him somewhat. "But I can go with you if... it's not too much trouble." And he can always pass information on to Ax, just to make sure he doesn't get found out.

Ryoji nods, smiling. "Yeah. I'd like that. I was thinking about trying to find something tomorrow, but... maybe in a different district." The whatever moves around, it had told him that, but it's probably pressing his luck to try for the same one.

"Which district was it in?" He might have to look at it from afar... just to make sure there's nothing around there that shouldn't be.

"The sixth." Ryoji doesn't mind telling him that. Hopefully it'll mean the boy stays away and doesn't go closer... though in hindsight that might be asking a bit much. Ryoji knows which he might do, if he thought it would be a danger to others. "It moves, though. It... impressed as much."

"... Okay. I'm just trying to get as much information as possible..." He rubs his forehead, trying to think. Man, he's hungry... he can feel his Horror getting grumpy. He's going to have to hunt again tonight.

"Look, I... I just want to make sure you don't get yourself into something you can't get out of. I have a friend who's mixed up in that kind of stuff, and he's pretty paranoid about everything because of it." To put it mildly.

"Technically, we're both already involved in things we can't really get out of," Ryoji points out with a soft chuckle. It's not like they can just stop being what they are. But he gets the point. "I appreciate it, though. Thanks for telling me about it. I'll definitely be careful." And it's really nice, that Tobias seems to genuinely care.

"Yeah, that's true." He sits down again, tugging his jacket around himself. "Sorry for freaking out, it's just... you're a decent person. I don't want you to get hurt."

There's not enough decent people around. Having one fewer would be a major loss.

"No, it's ok. It's kind of nice that you did, actually..." Shows he cares. That's always nice. "...How are you doing?"

It's... nice that he did? Huh... something to think about. "... I'm doing okay. I've sort of... there's this little girl who I ran into. She's... weird. I don't really know what she is... but I'm looking out for her. So I've been trying to step up and get a little more money so she can get a good coat or something like that."

Considering Ryoji's run into a little girl recently too... "This might be weird, but is she about nine years old with dark hair?" Because if so, Ryoji knows who and what she is. They just had to do a bit of an information exchange to get there.

"Yeah. Kind of clueless about how things work around here, for... whatever reason?" Because why wouldn't she know how things work in Hex? There's nothing other than Hex.

Ryoji nods. "Yeah, I know here. She's... got her reasons, for not knowing things. You can ask her, but she'll probably want to ask some things in return. That's the only reason I know." He can try and give hints if Tobias wants them, but Ebru probably doesn't want him spreading that kind of information. "But she's a nice kid."

"Yeah. She's been asking me questions, but I've been trying not to pry. She'll tell me when she's ready, I guess." He can't help but feel bad for a kid who doesn't have anyone. He didn't have anyone at her age, either. "She's been getting food on her own, so I've just been checking that she has other things."

She might not ever tell him, but Ryoji decides maybe he shouldn't say that. "Yeah, she seems pretty resourceful. I just hope she doesn't get herself into any trouble."

"Well, she's got my number if she needs help. I can get places pretty quickly... I can fly if I really have to." Even though that's... a pretty obvious thing and not something he should do if he wants to stay hidden at all.

"She's got mine, too. Hopefully she won't need it." Or if she does need it, will know to ask for it.

"Hopefully."

He smiles a little and nods at Ryoji. "You should probably lie down though, at least for a few minutes. I'll make sure no one shows up."

"Alright. Thanks." He could probably make it home just fine, but... this works just as well. He'll abandon his coffee for the moment and lie down, closing his eyes to get a bit of rest.

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