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

Tobias | OTA

[notachickenhawk]

I.

Of all things, Tobias isn't an idiot. He's seen the colder weather and has started to prepare. He remembers Ryoji's advice from the first time they met, and so he sets up on a little table near the university. Not on campus - he doesn't want any complaints about how he's not a college student - but close enough.

He sets up a little sign listing prices, along with some cityscape drawings he's done. They're not half bad, though they're all in black and white. Hopefully someone will come by and buy something... he really needs the cash for winter supplies.

II.

Tobias is in an awful mood following his chat with Malin. He's grown insular, taking refuge in high places. It's easy enough to spot the weird kid on top of a building, or in a tree, or parkouring his way up a fire escape with little regard to speed, safety, or noise.

He looks like he hasn't slept in a week, leaves caught in his hair, even though it's only been a day at maximum. It doesn't matter. He can't sleep. Not now. His Horror knows that he's pushing himself to the limit, but that's fine - all the better to get more of a chance to roam. He's been pushing himself too far lately, anyway.

II

[runs]

Tobias isn't doing well. She can't tell why, but she sees him often enough to tell that much, and today she decided to follow up on it. So he'll hear someone climbing over the side of the roof that he's currently sitting on, and if he turns around, he'll see Kitty taking off her gloves and stuffing them into a pocket before walking over and sitting down next to him.

He tends to be fairly forthcoming with information, so she just sits there for a while, waiting if he is going to speak of by himself.

[notachickenhawk]

He tenses up when he hears a noise, but relaxes a hair when he sees that it's just Kitty. Still... she could be taken over...

... He reaches into his pocket for his flip lighter, opens it, and flicks it on for a moment before closing it again. Maybe he's being too paranoid.

(But if he'd been more paranoid before, maybe Rachel wouldn't have...)

Tobias doesn't say anything, just looks out at the city again, ready to spring at any moment.

[runs]

She isn't sure what his thing is with that lighter, but this time around she doesn't get unsettled by it, just lets him finish. It seems to calm him, somehow.

If he doesn't talk, she will eventually speak up. "What are you looking for?"

[notachickenhawk]

"Those things. The thing I thought you might be when I first met you." His throat is a little dry, so the response comes off more raspy than he means it to. He swallows, tries to get his voice back.

"Saw some before. Knew they'd still be around. Thought I had a breather." He can't, though. Since when did he have a break in the past three years? Never. Even these few weeks, he shouldn't have gotten complacent. He should have been hunting more... but doing this without backup is a bad idea.

... But he can't go back to the others. Not while he's still angry with Jake. He'd get into a fight with him and he knows that it'd tear things apart, which would be even worse.

[runs]

"The ones that you hunt?"

That would make sense with how he brandished his lighter at her. He'd done that back then, too.

"...Why can't you just stop hunting them?" There had to be a reason, probably one that can't be reasoned with, but perhaps one that she can help with. Tobias... is someone whose continued survival is really important to her.

[notachickenhawk]

"... Because I don't want other people being hurt." Sure, he hurts people sometimes for lessons. And sure, sometimes other Beasts kill people outright for theirs. But not on the scale that he's seen some Strix go out and kill people over. Not acting on base desires.

[runs]

A long pause follows in which she puzzles over his words.

"You put yourself in danger for nothing but feeling good for having helped people?"

That's... that explains a lot, about how he has helped her so far without asking for anything or even any information. It's also very foreign to her, something that should only exist on TV. And it is an approach that, she realizes, she doesn't want him to have. Because people who are even a bit like that die. All (well, almost all) people die, but people with a sense for heroics die faster.

[notachickenhawk]

"... Pretty much." He tugs his jacket around himself a bit more tightly. "I do what I have to. I guess they have their own instincts to follow, but if they kill people then there's no one I can feed from or do my job properly."

He's not sure why they are what they are. He's never really had much of a chance to talk to them. They're not family, though. Not really. There's nothing that he can do with them or for them. The only thing he can do is try to kill them.

[runs]

"But you don't have to do it. There are others that do it too, and they aren't alone."

The part about feeding only makes so much sense to her - unless they kill in high numbers, but wouldn't they attract much more powerful enemies than a single teenager and a few of his friends then? You can only be so covert if you kill too much.

[notachickenhawk]

He's quiet for a few moments. "... I don't. But if I didn't act and they killed someone because I just let it go... it's on me." The Horror doesn't care, as long as it feeds. As long as it inflicts the lesson. But he can't just throw everything away.

[runs]

"Then you should find a team. Doesn't have to be the same one."

He made it rather clear that going back wasn't an option, but... "They can't be the only people like you here." Surely there have to be more, don't they?

[notachickenhawk]

"They're not, but..." But what? What is he afraid of?

... Well. The obvious. "What if I lose someone again?"

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.