cityofhex | WEEK 05

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WEEK 05

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.

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The pavement lands right in front of the guard's feet, sending him sprawling and tumbling into a group of people, who shriek and yell at him.

Tobias glances down at the cat and murmurs a thanks, not stopping until they get past another few groups of people. He then crouches down, offering his arm for her to climb up on so she can get to his jacket.

Kitty takes the offer, quickly climbing up Tobias's arm and getting comfortable on his shoulder.

She purrs in reply to the thanks, but otherwise just sits there. Can't do anything not cat-like out in public like this, can she?

He scritches her gently, and continues on his way. The guard is far behind them at this point, and they still have a bit to go until they get home. "I guess you were getting in trouble on your own tonight, huh?" He smiles, sounding gently fond. It's... nice to be around a cat again, even if it's one that can talk.

Well, she can't talk right now, and will hiss in reply to that. She never gets in trouble.

Okay, not tonight. She didn't get in trouble tonight. The hiss is very half-assed though, with no aggression behind it. Just mild offense.

"Uh huh." He laughs and rubs her under her chin carefully. "We'll be back soon enough. Let me know if you're cold or anything? You could probably fit in my pocket." Even with fur, it must be getting a little hard for her with how the temperature keeps dropping.

You know what, that sounds like a pretty good idea.

We hope you don't mind tiny claws digging into your clothes as she climbs down there quickly and tests that hypothesis.

Yes, indeed, she fits. So there's a pocket-kitten here, now.

He can't help but snicker a little and pat here gently, making sure she's secure. "I'm glad you're comfy." He looks back to check if anyone's following, but no - he's clear. "Hang on. We're going up."

And indeed, since the crowds are thinner here, he slips into an alley and leaps up to try and grab the fire escape. He does manage to grab it... and it creaks before sliding down on top of him. He adjusts quickly, and only manages to slide down onto his butt, keeping Kitty up and safe from being rolled on as the fire escape ladder slams down over his legs with a screech of metal. "... That. That wasn't... huh."

It was loud, and Tobias frowns before pulling his legs out and climbing up anyway as quickly as he can. Easier to get around downtown on the roofs anyway. He'll just have to avoid rolls while he's got Kitty in his pocket. He quickly takes off running, jumping to the next building easily and scrabbling up the wall to get to the top of a third.

Okay, she's holding onto him for dear life now, her claws digging as deeply as they can. And seriously doubting her life choices. It's not that she minds this in general - watching Tobias, it looked like fun, and she thought that she'd like to try it herself one day.

But being in his pocket while he does this? Yeah, that's nothing but jarring.

He pauses at the edge, considering, and then shaking his head. Too many people out to glide down. Not in this area. He climbs up onto the roof and then drops down onto that building's fire escape. He heads down the stairs and pauses at the ladder before dropping down, landing awkwardly with a small hiss.

"I didn't want anyone to be following us." He reaches in his pocket and attempts to smooth down her fur a little bit. "Sorry for scaring you."

She just can't not hiss at Tobias and give him the most offended look, sorry Tobias.

That was a lot less fun than what hearing the concept would have made it sound like.

"I said I'm sorry!" Geez. He pulls his hand away and just starts jogging down the street towards their hideout. "It's actually a lot of fun..."

No, she'll be sulking for a bit longer.

Until they're at their hideout and she can shift and actually say something.

They finally get there, and Tobias sits down, poking through his bag. She can crawl out on her own, if she wants.

She does want to.

And even remembers to only shift once she's found her clothes, and get dressed quickly. Though to be fair, heating or not it's a lot colder than in Ryoji's place.

"It's a lot less fun when you're in the pocket of someone doing it."

"Sorry about that." He smiles a little bit. "Maybe next time you can just hold onto my back or something?" He'd have to adjust for the weight, but it should be fine. "I can teach you a little, if you want."

"Next time I want to do it myself." So no to the former and back to the latter. She just doesn't want to risk him forgetting that she's there and accidentally roll over her.

And it looks way more fun to do yourself. So he should definitely teach her.

"Okay. We can do that. You'd probably be really good at it. Except you can't levitate anything. That's cheating." No cheating on this test, Kitty. He will totally bust you on it.

"Only when I'm falling from up too high."

She's not going to risk her life for the coolness factor (she's seen Tobias land badly a few times too often now).

"Yeah, okay. Just don't let other people see you." He just doesn't want someone to see her and go running for a hunter. Or worse, a hero.

"Of course I won't."

Or she will try at least. Sometimes you can't help it. But not at least trying to hide the use of magic seems like an even worse idea here than back home.

"... All right." She sure didn't try when they first met... but then again, he'd kind of had her backed into a corner. "Wall running is easy enough to teach you, anyway, and it's kind of the first skill I learned. Other than 'how to fall'."

She also wasn't intent on letting him notice that it was her, then, and then things just kept happening.

"I can fall well." She grins at that. Hey, if anyone knows how to fall, it will be cats.

Things keep happening so much, it's true. "I guess so. That's why I didn't suggest it. You've got an advantage."

"I do."

Cats are cooler than hawks, sometimes, even if they can't fly. Which, in a way, this one can.

Totally not cooler, Kitty.

"We'll start soon. First... you been doing okay?"

ohshi-

=D that's what friends are for

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