WEEK 03

[modmachine]

Preparation for the holidays continues at a steady - if slow - pace. Almost all traces of Halloween are gone by now, except for a few rotting pumpkins shoved into compost heaps, but with over a month until Christmas and the Day of Lights, nobody is yet in a hurry. Still, a few early holiday shoppers are out and about, usually in pairs if they aren't families with children, happily chattering about gift plans.

Weather forecast: The rain has passed, and days grow clear again for this week. Hex’s weather has been getting colder, and people are bundling up a bit more - even those who don’t need to, just in an effort to fit in. Hats and gloves are being prominently displayed in stores, even if they’re not strictly needed yet.

Moon phase: The moon is full on Monday the fourteenth, reaching peak fullness over the city at about 2AM. Afterwards, it begins to wane.

More employment: More decorations for the Day of Lights are going up, with some stronger-backed labor being recruited for the stockrooms in preparation for the incoming holiday rush. No one seems concerned about work history, a boon for people without a human paper trail. The park lights aren't finished yet, either, though things are on schedule to open next week.

Hitting the books: To prepare for the holidays, and raise funds for their community party, the library near the university is selling some of its used books. Most of them are fine, if an odd selection - you might find a cookbook, or you might find a book of poetry. There’s something weird about the books, though - a few of them smell faintly of mint. Watching over all of this is a sharp-eyed librarian. Don’t take a book without paying, or she’ll get up from her desk and try to block the door. She keeps having to chase away teenagers with dirty hands, too.

Bake sale: Some of the local schools are starting to take up donations for their holiday parties. One in particular in the residential district is holding a bake sale in front of the elementary school for an hour each day after classes let out. If you can fight through the sea of small children hoping someone will buy them something, you’ll find a variety of brownies, cookies, and tiny cakes. Many of them are lopsided, but a few look put together by expert hands. They cost more, of course, but it’s all for a good cause. A grouchy mother can be found near the cash box at all times, making sure no one steals the money.

Whoo are you?: Malin will notice that owls seem to be happening at her; they're hard to see, just shapes against the lesser-dark of the night sky, but they definitely seem to be watching her. They particularly seem to gather when she feeds. If she doesn't confront them, this will increase slowly but measurably throughout the week.

Time waits for no one: An old clock tower in the part of downtown leading into the Sixth has been restored to functionality... Mostly. The belltower stands empty, though there's a visible place where a bell should be hung, several stories above the floor. Ryoji might find the scene familiar. On Wednesday evening, there is some kind of reopening gathering at the church below it; the brief service and meet-and-greet is not particularly unusual, save that the young Acolyte handing out papers in the entry won't step into the congregation hall itself.

Like a dog with a bad...: In the Sixth, the construction is ongoing, still with the same handful of men, who rotate through almost like randomly generated NPCs. Lurking around outside is a thickly built man, who watches the whole goings-on with suspicion; strangely, he seems to be watching it mostly through the camera on his phone. On Friday morning, though it shouldn't be cold enough for frost, three of the strangely similar men slip on patches of ice and fall behind a half-finished wall... Where they vanish completely. They reappear after lunch, if it's even the same men, with no signs of injury. That afternoon, the man with his phone looks smug.

A touch of the season: And speaking of ice, passage into many of the city's Avernian Gates is blocked this week by a thick frost that seals the entries shut. An Unsettling Youth and his girlfriend can occasionally be seen investigating them; though they're constantly together, they don't seem much inclined to talk to each other. Occasionally, she'll drape her arm over his shoulders and giggle, while he looks confused; other times, she seems almost to shy away from him.

Comments

[dangerouslyinlove]

I

After his stint in the Underworld, the belltower definitely catches Ryoji's eye. It takes him a few passes by to figure out why it seems familiar, since it looks, you know. Part of the living world. The missing bell is especially curious, and if there's a chance he'll snoop around so he can try and figure out what happened to it. Even if that means going to the service, which both he and Thanatos are vaguely uncomfortable in. He figures he'll try and check in with Lirisoir too to talk about it, once he has the chance.

II needs NPC runin!

...so about that plan to go talk to Lirisoir...

The gates being frosted shut is incredibly frustrating, especially since normal frost shouldn't be blocking his way in. He remembers the chill of the... whatever that thing was that Tobias told him to stay away from, and suspects they might be linked. But not enough to still make the rounds periodically all week, which means he almost certainly runs into the Unsettling Youth at some point. "Oh! Sorry!"

...He might be assuming he interrupted something.

III

Though he's incredibly annoyed that his current project is being blocked again, Ryoji does focus his attentions elsewhere in the meantime. He's still got classes to go to, after all, and periodically he can be found at the coffee shop or in the library to have a warm place inside to study and do homework. More often that not he's seated in a chair not at all properly, legs up on the cushion with some kind of drink (usually coffee) in his hands, pouring over a book. Well. He's trying to pour over the book. He's very distractible, though, and very likely to wave at any face he even remotely recognizes.

III

[chalicejoker]

All Hajime wanted was a coffee, he did not want social interaction, the horror. He finds himself very awkwardly returning that wave.

[dangerouslyinlove]

Oh good, he waved! That means Ryoji has permission to go talk to him.

"Hi!" he says cheerfully, blatantly ignoring any awkwardness, "How are you doing?"

[chalicejoker]

"...I'm fine." Hajime is torn as to whether or not he should attempt to reciprocate this conversation.

Better do it. Human societal norms and all. "...how are you?"

[dangerouslyinlove]

Awww, Ryoji's so proud of you, whatever you are. He feels like he should develop a rewards system or something. "I'm good! What have you been up to?"

[chalicejoker]

The conversation continues. Why. This was not enough social interaction for the day? "Just working." There's a pause. "And you?" That's what humans are supposed to do even when they don't care, Hajime supposes.

[dangerouslyinlove]

Nope, sorry. It's ok, this is good practice for you! "I was just studying. We've got exams coming up soon. What kind of work are you doing now?"

[chalicejoker]

"Same as ever. Photography." He is not good at this conversation thing. It is exhausting, and he is trying to figure out the point.

[dangerouslyinlove]

Poor guy. This is really hard for him. Maybe Ryoji should give him more to work with? "What kind, though? Are you doing commercial stuff, or holiday pictures, or...?"

I

[runs]

"Where are you going?"

She runs into Ryoji while he is heading to the church for the service, falling into step besides him easily.

[dangerouslyinlove]

"Hi Ebru." Since, you know, she still hasn't corrected him on her real name. "The church over there. I want to see if I can find out where their bell went." Which... is a weird reason out of context, but there is context! Really!!

[runs]

"Maybe someone stole it." You probably can sell them at least for the worth of their metal.

...There is a song about church bells that Chantalle used to sing, but she can't quite remember what it was. Something about a castle above a lake. Maybe it wasn't about bells? But the bells seemed important, somehow.

[dangerouslyinlove]

"I feel like something that big would be hard to steal. And anyway, it reminds me of something I saw last week." Not the creepy gear thing, after that.

Let's situate this thread after she shows Ryoji's description to Hajime?

[runs]

"You just need the right equipment or some helpers." Ideally both. She's seen people steal much bigger stuff, though mostly only on reality TV. "...While you saw the thing that you told me about?"

sure!

[dangerouslyinlove]

"I guess..." Don't steal any bells, Ebru. "No, after I. I found part of what I was looking for." He's not sure he ever explained that part to her.

[runs]

Not without the equipment and the contacts to sell it after.

"...What were you looking for, that a belltower is a part of it?"

[dangerouslyinlove]

"I was in the Underworld, and sometimes it has buildings and stuff that mirror the living world." Because, you know, that's not creepy at all. "And there was a belltower like this one, but it had a bell."

II

[modmachine]

It doesn't look exactly like he's interrupted something; the girl is leaning over to inspect the gate hidden under a stairway, while the youth leans against a nearby wall almost as though he's standing guard. (Or at least, he was before their near-impact.) Ryoji gets a brief blank look, before the boy glances at his companion and then back. The reply is hesitant and a little uncertain. "...Hey. It's fine."

[dangerouslyinlove]

That much of a pause gives Ryoji plenty of time to see that something is Not Right with the situation. The girl is Bound, he can tell that- which is good, because if Thanatos saw someone who wasn't messing around with a Gate he would throw a fit. The boy... he doesn't know what's up with him. He's kind of in the middle of dead or alive, which is not a place anyone should rightfully exist in. "Still, sorry," he says, with another careless smile before he 'spots' the girl searching. "Did you lose something?"

He knows quite well what she's looking for, and one look at him should let her know that- but he knows enough about secrecy not to say anything openly.

[modmachine]

The girl glances up and sees him; she hesitates a moment, before shaking her head. "They're all frozen. I don't know why..." She shifts as she straightens, seemingly nervous.

The boy mostly watches Ryoji, but his words are directed at the girl. "Can't you do anything?"

[dangerouslyinlove]

"I don't know either. It's... they shouldn't be like that." He has a guess, but given all the warnings he's gotten he doesn't much feel like sharing. "D'you know when it happened?"

[modmachine]

The girl is shaking her head, looking at the boy apologetically. "Sorry, Avere, I can't..."

The boy seems to huff, looking away from her and Ryoji both. After a moment, the girl nervously speaks up again to answer the question. "It's hard to say. Some of them froze sooner than others, like something had to do them individually. We noticed it over in the Sixth first."

[dangerouslyinlove]

Ryoji looks at him, before looking at her, gesturing almost as if asking 'what's his problem' but he's far too polite to actually... ask.

"That's... weird." And absolutely does not clue him in to exactly what happened. Nnnnnot at all. Has nothing to do with Angels. It's fine. (It's not fine at all, now he has to figure out if the Angel did it to stop people from entering or because it figured out he'd already gone in.) "It hasn't melted at all, has it?"

[modmachine]

She just kind of shakes her head again. Long story, Ryoji. "Not really. There's a little less ice over where they showed up first, but it's not melting like normal ice."

[dangerouslyinlove]

"Yeah... when I first found it I tried to use a lighter to melt it. It did, but then it came back immediately." Which is not a helpful thing at all.