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

I

[dangerouslyinlove]

It's later on in the week when Ryoji finally catches up with Tobias, but he's pleased to see him all the same. Especially since... well. After a certain dream he's been a little worried about the guy. "Hey!" he says brightly, coming over to see him. And possibly just plopping down next to him. "How are you?"

[notachickenhawk]

Well there's another chair near him, though it's not as steady-looking as the one he's on.

He looks a bit tired, but otherwise okay. Physically, at least. "Oh, hey. I'm okay. A little cold." You know. The weather, and all.

[dangerouslyinlove]

"Yeah, it's been getting that way..." Though considering he's seen where Tobias lives, he's as worried about the other boy's health as much as he was about Kitty's. "Are you staying somewhere that you'll be warm enough?"

[notachickenhawk]

"... We're trying to find somewhere that'll work." He scratches the back of his head and gestures to the art... stuff. "Trying to get a generator to have a heater that'll work."

[dangerouslyinlove]

Ryoji looks out over the art, smiling at it. "Your art is really nice," he says, picking up one to look at it more closely, "If you need any help... you can always let me know, ok?"

[notachickenhawk]

It's a drawing of the bay, but done from the air, with boats casting lights around. It looks like it might have been drawn from a picture - it probably was - and it's fairly rough, but the emotion is still there.

"I... we're surviving." Though on the subject of 'help'... "I did... want to ask you something. Do you... remember your dreams?"

[dangerouslyinlove]

'Surviving' is not terribly inspiring and Ryoji frowns at him. Though... he's distracted by the question. "Um... sometimes, I guess?" Though for the life (ha) of him he can't figure out why Tobias would be asking right now.

[notachickenhawk]

"I think... I - I mean my Horror, but I guess me... I think we ended up in your dream."

It's kind of awkward to talk about. Thankfully there aren't really people around right now.

[dangerouslyinlove]

"Oh..." Hm. Ryoji thinks on that. "That sounds... kind of familiar, I think." Or, at least, he thinks there was something weird about a recent dream with a giant bird?

[notachickenhawk]

He nods, and takes a deep breath, before letting it out and starting to pack up his supplies. The table can stay... it's in pretty bad shape and he can probably snatch another one from somewhere.

"I want to show you something. I think... I think you'll like it. If you're not busy."

[dangerouslyinlove]

That gets a smile out of him. "Yeah, sure," he says, standing up with him and helping him pack up, if he needs it.

[notachickenhawk]

It doesn't take too long, and he shoulders his bag, leading Ryoji into the greenbelt. He's quiet, thinking and a little obviously nervous, but he doesn't speak until they reach a clearing in the trees. It's not big - barely big enough for a few tents if the encampment stretched out this far - but it's still a clearing.

Tobias takes a breath, and the wind around them whips up. He smiles a little, and suddenly space around them shifts.

The clearing suddenly seems to expand, the trees pulling back and losing all of their leaves. The wind keeps blowing, but it stops pushing on Ryoji, even as it whips up to near-storm levels. The sun is still in the sky, but it seems different, less intense and less there.

And Tobias is gone, replaced with a giant hawk. It crouches near Ryoji, nudging him gently. Hey there.

Ryoji might find that there's someone else there, too. Someone more familiar to him.

[dangerouslyinlove]

Ryoji follows along behind him, quiet enough and letting Tobias think about whatever it is. When he wants to talk, he will, whenever they get to what Tobias wants to show them.

And what a thing to show him.

It's almost like being in a dream, but not, and Ryoji watches in fascination as the scenery shifts around them. He doubts anyone else in the area can see it, which is good, but it's almost a shame too. It's kind of amazing.

Seeing the hawk again reminds him a bit better and he grins, reaching out to pat its head as Thanatos hovers in the background. "Hey!"

[notachickenhawk]

This is my lair. It's where I go to heal and rest.

He tilts his head at Thanatos a bit, but seems calm. Right... the little Cousin. It's stranger, when he's not hungry. But maybe he shouldn't be surprised. There used to be other paths here, but they all pretty much got blocked off when I left.

[dangerouslyinlove]

"Wow. That's pretty cool." Gonna keep petting unless you tell him to stop.

He glances around, looking towards the paths in puzzlement. "When you left?" When he left what? Why would that do anything?

[notachickenhawk]

The petting is fine. It's weird, but Ryoji's weird.

When I left the others. After... she died. Rachel's Lair was always the closest to his... The others had paths to theirs through mine, but when I left them behind I closed those paths off.

[dangerouslyinlove]

Ah... that's kind of sad. "Did you close them off on purpose?" he asks. He can see why he might have, but can also see why it would have just... happened.

[notachickenhawk]

Yeah. ... If I did something stupid and got a Hero coming after me, I didn't want them to be able to get to the others. Not that he was planning on it, but just in case...

[dangerouslyinlove]

"A Hero?" He has no idea what that is. But he thinks some things are starting to make sense. "...But there are different paths now."

[notachickenhawk]

Someone who thinks we're all just rampaging monsters. They're dangerous. Not that Beasts can't be, but still. And the paths... lead out into the Dream.

[dangerouslyinlove]

"Oh. Hunters." Yeah, he knows about those. Some of them are ok, many are not. "And you have to follow that path to hunt." He thinks he's starting to get that.

[notachickenhawk]

Different than Hunters. More obsessed. But he nods. When I'm hunting in the Dream, yeah. I go and try to see if I can find a dream to go into and feed from. But I don't always hunt like that...

[dangerouslyinlove]

"Oh. Wow." Yeah, that sounds bad. Hopefully none of those will find him... "How else do you hunt?"

[notachickenhawk]

In the waking world. I... try not to take from those who can't eventually recover... but sometimes that's how I have to feed. Smash a window, feed off of the fear of being insecure. Flatten someone's crops, and have them realize that nature can take everything. Clip the wire on someone's security system, and have them know that modern technology won't make them safe.

He pulls away a bit, stretching his wings out and leaning over to groom the feathers. Some other Beasts call that Hunger 'Ruin'. I don't really care what they call it. I already knew that everything could be ripped from you. I used to get shuffled between schools. I didn't have friends, not before I met up with the others. I was numb to that fear. I understood it. I don't want to inflict it on others, but I understand that someone has to make those people who feel so secure understand...

[dangerouslyinlove]

Ryoji keeps gently stroking the bird, listening attentively all the while. He hasn't been through quite the same number of hardships as Tobias has, even if he doesn't know the specifics of the boys' life. His mother might have struggled after his father died, but she didn't turn him away or belittle him for being himself. Even if his friends have never really been close enough to know everything about him, he's gotten by with a handful of people who he can at least spend time with and will back him up in normal situations. But still... there's a part of him that does understand, deep in his core in a place that he's not even sure where it comes from. One day, everything will end. People will die. Things will be meaningless. He's not sure why more people don't understand that.

"...I'm sorry you have to be the one to do it," he says, since Tobias said himself it's not really a thing he wants to do, "But... I think I understand. It's important for people to know, so they don't get blindsided when it happens."