modmachine: (Default)
Hᴇx - ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏᴅ ᴍᴀᴄʜɪɴᴇ ([personal profile] modmachine) wrote in [community profile] cityofhex2016-12-05 08:43 pm

WEEK 03

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.
shigeo: (I did something)

Mob | OPEN

[personal profile] shigeo 2016-12-15 01:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[Hitting the Books]

A young boy is present at the book sale, and has separated a stack for himself. The more outlandish, occultish stuff is neatly piled in front of him, ranging from "how to read tarot" to "the satanist bible" to "numerology for the uninformed". Despite having separated a neat little stack of books just for himself, he isn't reading them. Right now, he's reading something else entirely - a book titled "Emotional Awareness".

Anyone with the ability to detect the presence of a mage will feel it from him, rather abruptly. This kid doesn't seem that different, and isn't wearing anything that might signal a connection to the world of the supernatural... he looks like a normal kid in a goofy hoodie that has a cartoon dog face on it. When approached, he looks up, staring with a strangely deadpan expression.
runs: (duh)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-15 08:00 pm (UTC)(link)
She isn't here for the books. She was just passing through and poking around, hoping that someone will leave their wallet lying around on some books and move on without noticing, but the sharp eyes of the librarian really just won't leave her back so she's almost on her way out when she catches sight of Mob.

What a shitty haircut. And the covers of those books look really ...tryhard-to-be-edgy. And still... it's just a hunch, but she squints and assesses him anyway.

Okay, that was worth it. She hasn't seen someone so clearly and purely awakened since coming here. Unlike Tobias, his aura looks exactly like an awakened person's aura should look. He also seems to be fairly annoyed.

Maybe- The girl that was walking around the book sale aimlessly so far suddenly changes direction and walks towards him, nodding at the stack of book at his side. "Are you going to burn those?"
Edited 2016-12-15 20:00 (UTC)
shigeo: (Questions)

[personal profile] shigeo 2016-12-15 08:10 pm (UTC)(link)
"Huh? Oh... no," he replies, looking up from the book he was actually reading, which didn't resemble the others in the slightest. He glances at her, sniffing a bit. His eyes focus for a moment, staring hard at her before glancing away, shyly. His emotional state shifts, but it's... incredibly muted. He almost seems impassive. "My master requested that I pick up any books on the occult, and wait for him to come and buy them..." he explained quietly.
runs: (duh)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-15 08:19 pm (UTC)(link)
"If they're in a place like this they're probably useless, though."

She pushes against the stack of books with a finger, seeing how hard it would be to push it over. Not because she doesn't like the stack, but it looks an awful lot like it's asking to be pushed over.
shigeo: (What is this)

[personal profile] shigeo 2016-12-15 08:22 pm (UTC)(link)
It naturally falls over - it is only a stack of books, after all. If it was meant to provoke him, Kitty will find herself disappointed, because he doesn't respond in the slightest. Even the general undercurrent of awkwardness doesn't really shift. The book he cares about is the one about understanding people, which is currently sitting in his lap and has his thumb acting as a bookmark.

"He says that the symbols can be important for magic."
runs: (forward and ahead)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-15 08:25 pm (UTC)(link)
...Okay, that happened faster than she thought. And it was fun. Her eyes skim the tables, looking for other stacks of books that she could push over.

"You could turn things into symbols that make you look less like you're trying too hard."
shigeo: (Chit chat)

[personal profile] shigeo 2016-12-15 08:27 pm (UTC)(link)
"Putting in more effort makes the magic less dangerous," Mob simply replies, stacking the books without thinking too much about it. "I don't use these that much, but Master Reigen likes to use them."
runs: (duh)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-15 08:31 pm (UTC)(link)
"There's a difference between working hard and trying too hard." Both sound like something she'd rather avoid.

Her eyes are on the books that he's restacking.
shigeo: (Dubious)

[personal profile] shigeo 2016-12-18 02:41 pm (UTC)(link)
He shrugs, not really having a response for that. He doesn't know what she's trying to imply, and it seems like the librarian is getting upset, even if his normal speaking voice is fairly soft. "I don't really care about stuff like this anyway..."
runs: (considering all that)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-18 09:40 pm (UTC)(link)
"Like what?"

Still watching that stack of books. Also completely ignoring the librarian. Kitty has priorities.
shigeo: (Uhm)

[personal profile] shigeo 2016-12-19 01:22 pm (UTC)(link)
"The whole magic thing," he said, gesturing to the stack. "None of it really matters, it won't make you popular."
runs: (considering all that)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-19 01:59 pm (UTC)(link)
...That's an angle that she has never used to look at magic, so she's just... staring at him for a long moment, connecting the two concepts. No.

"Why would someone think that it makes you popular?"

Wanted, perhaps, both in the and in the bad sense, but that's a very different thing, because it comes from fear and economical interest.
shigeo: (Dubious)

[personal profile] shigeo 2016-12-22 08:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Mob sort of awkwardly sorts his thoughts for a moment before responding.

"You know... the people out there that think that because they have powers, that they somehow aren't people anymore. Or that they're better than anyone else, and everyone should just submit to them. People like that," he mumbles, vaguely gesturing.
runs: (duh)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-22 08:42 pm (UTC)(link)
"But that will just make you feared, not popular. And then you should be able to back it up very well, or someone will kill you or extract you."

Magic doesn't make you popular. Sure, you can be a show mage, or use magic to make your music more interesting, but then the show or the music are what make you popular and not the magic proper, it'll just give you an edge that is apparently needed to be different, or something.
shigeo: (Who should I call?)

[personal profile] shigeo 2016-12-23 12:50 pm (UTC)(link)
"I didn't say I agreed with them," he sort of lamely adds. "It doesn't matter..."
runs: (considering all that)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-23 11:42 pm (UTC)(link)
She considers him for a long moment, taking her attention from the stack of books.

"...Do you know a lot of mages?"
shigeo: (Moment of hesitation)

[personal profile] shigeo 2016-12-27 02:05 pm (UTC)(link)
"Um, not a lot, no," he responded a bit warily, giving her another long look. "You're a mage?"
runs: (I got this)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-27 02:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Back home, she wouldn't just run around and tell people about that (assuming they hadn't noticed anyway), but this place is different and she still has no idea why. Everyone is hiding, and he's the first lead that she has on mages, so she's going to roll with this.

"Yeah. And you're too, right?"