WEEK 05

[modmachine]

Weather: The temperature has dropped another notch, enough to start being seriously uncomfortable for those who sleep outside with no cover. Tuesday and Wednesday will have freezing rain at night, though it’s not snowing as of yet. Some of the kids wish it would, though, the closer it gets to the Festival of Lights.

Moon Phase: Monday brings the new moon, not that most people will be able to see it through the gathering clouds. If you look, though, it's possible to see the waxing crescent in the early morning late in the week.

School's Out: This week is finals at the college, and as a result, Friday through Sunday see a large number of the students moving out for the winter holidays. Most of those who opt to remain are shuffled around in order to leave two buildings - the senior hall used by students in the sciences and one of the freshmen halls - completely empty. The official explanation is building maintenence. On Wednesday, Ryoji will get a text from Ci asking if he's staying over for the holiday.

Winter bluster, winter blow: Things are starting to get a little messy in the Winter Court as their season approaches. For most of the last year, the Court has been run by committee, after the last Winter King inexplicably vanished. No successor was named, and with the seasonal coronation less than a month away, the court's usual plots and intrigues are starting to spill into the open. As of now, things seem to be divided between three factions - a group of diehard supporters of the previous King, certain he'll return; a group supporting the former brother-at-arms of said King, who may have been involved in the disappearance; and a third group supporting the King's protege, clearly hoping that the youth's relative inexperience will make him an easy puppet. Business as usual in the Winter Court, but it has the potential to spill into the others and turn nasty.

Day Zero: Network Zero’s been alight with chatter for those who follow it. There’s been clear footage of something that appears to be a man with a knife on fire in one of the warehouses - and yet none of the fire seems to catch anything around him. There’s also a report that the person who took this footage is in the hospital for a broken bone, though there haven’t been any updates yet. The local Sin-Eaters aren’t thrilled about this either, and on Friday night two teenagers are spotted around the area, along with a trio of younger boys armed with a camera.

A Strange Guest: Casper's new... ahem, roommate, is causing a few side effects. Most prominent will be the small patches of black and dark blue scales - they start tiny, like freckles, but grow in over the course of a few days to something better called patches before they stop. And the entire time they're growing in, they itch like the bejeebus. On the bright side, after some adjustment, the new addition is alert and willing to communicate... as long as Casper doesn't mind that he's going to have a near-encyclopedic knowledge of astronomy before the week is out.

Words for the Wicked: In the park where the hunt took place last weekend, something is writing on the trees. It starts out with just scratch marks, but before long it's scraps of the sorts of conversation you might overhear in the park, people talking to their children or dogs, that sort of thing. On Friday night, however, the words start to take a darker turn - KILL IT is repeated in numerous places, sometimes accompanied by the words TROPHY and MONSTER. And on Sunday, all the words are gone, except for a single phrase written under the hole made by a stray bullet during the hunt - i'll hunt you back.

Frostgrowth: The entrance to the Hedge used by the recent Goblin Market is continually frosty this week, as is the Underworld entrance used by Ryoji and Casper. The changelings in particular are wary about the change, though none of them seem to have put it together with the other strange patch of frost. Lingering at either location too long will draw the attention of the Frostiron Guardian more quickly than usual.

Trains keep on rolling: Construction on the building in the Sixth has progressed far enough that watching the building is pointless even for the thickly built man, who has instead resumed his trainspotting ways.

Weekly service: The nighttime bell-ringing at St. Madeline's church occurs again on Sunday night, this time drawing a bit more of a crowd. In hushed voices, a few people approach the Acolyte responsible for the bells about organizing a regular service of the church of the dead. She seems uncertain, and no formal plans are made that night.

Put Yourself Back Where You Came From Or So Help Me: On Thursday night, Tobias will have a brief visit to his lair through the Primordial Dream - another, weaker Horror, still wary and apparently checking things out. It's hard to tell exactly what the creature is, but the impression is of something shadowed and low-to-the-ground that leaves behind a smell of soured wine.

Comments

[runs]

Oh, right. Metahuman sensibilities. "Where can I find one?" She reluctantly puts the can and can opener down and heads over to Ryoji's room.

[dangerouslyinlove]

"I have a bunch..." And one of his t-shirts should cover the important parts, since he's much taller than she is. He'll fish one out of his drawers and hand it to her, still trying not to look at her. "Here."

[runs]

"Thanks." She snags it from his hands and pulls it over her head, smoothing it down so it'll fall as far as it can. Which is down to about her knees. And then returns to her tuna.

Oh, and before she forgets it... "I think the ice is back."

[dangerouslyinlove]

Oh thank god, it covers her. He will take it!

Her next comment gets his attention, though. "Really? Where?"

[runs]

"Where the market was there was a road into the Hedge. And there's ice on it now."

She has no idea if he knows what place she's talking about, but referencing the market should at least give him a rough idea.

[dangerouslyinlove]

Ryoji has no idea what the Hedge is, but he does pick up enough from context. "Huh... I went into the Underworld again, too. Maybe I should check that Gate." Very briefly, if at all possible.

[runs]

"When did you go?"

She wanders back into his room now, two opened tuna cans and a spoon with her - she's learned her lessons about sharp can edges the hard way, and shapeshifter accelerated healing or not, she's not going to risk cutting herself by doing this the way she wants to do it.

[dangerouslyinlove]

"A few days ago. After the market." It should still be there, if the ice lasts like it did last time.

[runs]

"...So all the pathways to other places are icing over."

After a moment of thought, she sits down on the ground and starts spooning that tuna into her mouth.

[dangerouslyinlove]

"I guess so." Ryoji sighs, leaning against the wall. "But... why? I mean, I guess I was helping someone else try to get out when I went, so... maybe whatever it is really wants to keep you guys here?"

[runs]

"...us?

I was never in that underworld. Out would be out of Hex for me."

That's pretty different from ...back to life? Or whatever it is that Ryoji did there.

[dangerouslyinlove]

"No, I mean..." Agh, how to explain. "The person I took down there is able to get to the Underworld back in his home and thought they might be connected. So we were trying to get him back to his world from there."

[runs]

Are you talking about Casper?

Because. RUDE. They wanted to try that together.

"What's his name?"

[dangerouslyinlove]

Ryoji side-eyes her, not sure how to answer that question. "Why?" he winds up asking. He's been trying not to give out names, even though it's quite possible he and Kitty have already met.

[runs]

"Blond, without a soul and with a crow on his shoulder that got too much of it?"

Stop trying to dodge.

[dangerouslyinlove]

"Oh. Good. You have met him." He just wanted to make sure! He doesn't give your name out to anyone who asks.

[runs]

That's completely different, though.

"We wanted to go together."

[dangerouslyinlove]

"Oh." Whoops. "Well... I was able to actually get in and knew how and had done it before, so..." Please don't be mad at anyone!!! "It didn't work, anyway."

[runs]

"Why not?" That's bad news.

Much unlike this tuna. It's pretty delicious, and she's already setting aside the first can to get started with the second.

[dangerouslyinlove]

Cats are weird creatures.

"I don't know," Ryoji admits, "But it didn't look familiar to Casper at all, and Lirisoir said they'd tried everything..."

[runs]

Well, she'll really have to try the Hedge then.

"Lirisoir?"

[dangerouslyinlove]

Ryoji nods. "He was the guy I told you about, who wanted you to be careful about dying and... stuff." He never did get a better answer from him on what exactly she was supposed to avoid. Whoops.

[runs]

Yep, about that. "So you met him again. Did you ask him what he meant exactly, before?"

[dangerouslyinlove]

"We got kind of distracted, actually, I didn't get the chance. I will next time I see him, if I can." He's not sure how aware Lirisoir is being inside Casper.

[runs]

"Why would you not be able to?"

No excuses, this is important.