WEEK 01

[modmachine]

Somewhere, a gear slips.

It's sunset on Halloween night; a night of celebration for the dead and the once-dead, a night of wariness for those bound closely to the spirits. Everything seems to move more freely on this night; the sensation of boundaries crossed is almost palpable.

A handful of those native to the city will certainly feel such. Between one step and the next, there's a feeling of pushing against something, something you didn't know was there before - and it gives. Physically, nothing changes, but you now know something is wrong, as though waking from a dream. Something has slipped, and you remember. Hajime will feel the sensation most keenly, as the things he recalls lack the sharp details of a demon's memory.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Sixth, the New Arrivals all also find themselves taking steps - the first thing the group will become aware of in the city is being shoved out the door of what seems to be some kind of broken down factory. The alley they step into is wide enough to get a truck through, but shows little sign of human habitation; only a cardboard box, half-dissolved by rain, and a few bits of stray glass from broken bottles can be seen. Their phones and any other communication devices they possess all beep loudly, once, after the door slams shut.

Except... What door? When they next blink, while there's still a vaguely door-like outline, the concrete wall has changed; where the door was, there's a metal sheet, machined with faint circular patterns, seamlessly integrated with the concrete. Banging a fist on it produces a solid sound, as though the metal was at least an inch thick. Though there is a feeling of being watched in the alleyway, no one will approach until they leave it, not even a passerby walking the not-quite-yet-dark street at either end. Until they step out of the alley, it's as though they don't exist.

And there's a good amount of foot traffic passing the alleyway by. Though it tends towards people in a college student age bracket and people in a vaguely street punk sort of fashion with odd accessories, neither is an absolute rule by any rule. Following the flow of traffic leads to a run-down park that's mostly skatepark with a few picnic tables and a small greenspace that's been taken over for a dancefloor. The tables are covered in odd junk and there seems to be some trading going on.

Haseo and Ryoji will both have better knowledge of what the place is, and have standing invitations to the party that's starting up as the Sin-Eater trading post winds down.

Elsewhere: On a beach bordering the bay, a group of changelings holds a bonfire. Periodically, someone throws a papercraft skull into it with extreme prejudice; almost all the skulls are inhuman in some way, though the craftmanship of the paper-mache makes it difficult to tell at times. Those in the know have to be aware that such an overt display won't pass unnoticed by the Autumn King... But the tall and built woman who seems to be the center of the festivities shows no fear in the season of fear.

In the Residential District and even a few places in the Sixth, trick-or-treaters are as much a feature as they are every year. Children in costume run about with little concern for who they approach, while their parents maintain appropriate wariness from sidewalks or cars. A small group of children, however, galivants with no supervision - and there is something uncanny about the trio. It's best to give them a treat if they approach you, else you might find yourself the recipient of a cruel trick in return. Unlike the other trick-or-treaters, they're out and about well past midnight; nearly to dawn, in fact. When the sky begins to lighten, however, all three stop immediately in the middle of what they're doing and - with the sound of mad, fey giggling - bolt off in the direction of the farming district.

The prompts from the Test Drive also remain available for interaction.

The rest of the week:

Weather forecast: Though Halloween is a clear night, clouds steadily roll in for most of the rest of the week, hanging overcast in the sky with occasional breaks and sprinkles of rain slotted in. Mornings are foggy and chill, warming slightly in the afternoons but not varying all too much in temperature. Frost has yet to set in, though, making it possible to sleep outside if you have adequate cover, but it won't be very fun.

Moon Phase: The 30th was a New Moon, so Halloween's sky is decorated by a fingernail crescent that grows to almost a half moon throughout the week.

The Clean-Up: After Halloween, of course, everything must slowly go back to normal. Most folks clean up their own messes throughout the first morning of November, but shards of gutted and thrown pumpkins can be found most everywhere, and at the park where the Sin-Eaters partied, a lone Security Officer inspects the aftermath for signs of unusual activity. Aside from the remains of pumpkins, which are mostly left to rot, decorations vanish over the course of the week and all but a few are gone by Thursday morning.

The College: Though enrollment for the fall semester is over, the deadlines for winter are fast approaching, and there are a number of tables set up in a large area to entice prospective students. Most of them are manned by undergraduates, but the English program's table is staffed most of the time by a single Tired Professor with mousy brown hair. Occasionally, the Tech Student at the next table over takes pity on the man, bringing him a hot-chocolate to help warm his fingers.

[Feel free to use this post as a jumping-off point for logs and interactions! You are also welcome to post your own logs to the community as needed. Mods will be available on plurk and discord to answer questions, and can be hailed for exploration logs off this post.]

Comments

Anya Corazon (new arrival, ota)

[cazamitad]

Anya only gives a cursory glance over the other confused people around her before stepping forward a few steps to get her bearings. This is not New York. This is not anywhere she recognizes. She kind of hates that she's in civvies - the uniform seems to give her an air of authority even when people have no idea who she is.

Still, it's not like she actually wants to take charge. She just wants to figure out what happened and where she is.

"Excuse me," she says, trying to stop a passing pedestrian who seems to have no intention of stopping. "Excu-- hey! C'mon!" She throws her hands up and mutters under her breath in Spanish before turning back to the nearest fellow-new-person with a big smile. "Well, we're probably screwed! You have any idea where we are?"

[movingon]

The person that she addresses doesn't answer immediately, completely preoccupied with resisting the urge to bolt.

Someone ambushed her and pushed her out of ...some door, apparently, there are tons of people around, she's suddenly in the middle of a city, and as much as there is no clear danger present right now, that might just mean that she hasn't noticed it yet.

You don't just get shoved into cities without someone having a plan with it. But that exactly is also why she stays where she is, trying to squeeze into the shadow of the building behind her, a huge military coat, hood drawn up and hiding the face, that presumably contains a person - the shape is a bit off, the head too tall, and if that is a hunchback in the back it is a massive one. Because she has no idea where she is and if she just runs away blindly now she might just run right into something even worse. And perhaps if she stays still, nobody will notice her and she can leave quietly...

She has no such luck though, apparently.

Her voice, when she finally speaks, sounds hoarse. She hasn't been using it in months. But it still also sounds like that of a young woman, and scared. "No, sorry."

[withoutaworld]

The last thing Rikki remembers is leaping from one building to the next, Anya just behind her... and suddenly her feet are on solid ground, without even the jarring impact of landing. She stumbles slightly, and swings around immediately toward the door they just came through, only to find a flat metal wall where it should have been.

"What the..."

She triggers her shield and uses it to thump against the wall experimentally — not too hard, but enough to get the idea that it's not going to give way with a few good hits. Magic, then. Or some weird tech that might as well be magic. Either way, not exactly in her wheelhouse.

At least Anya's still with her. Rikki doesn't bother to turn off her shield as she walks up behind her, leaning in so her chin's almost resting on her shoulder. "What happened to your uniform, Spider-Girl?"

Kitty | new arrival, ota

[runs]

A. Arrival

Kitty stumbles out onto the street and immediately swings around, exclaiming in an annoyed suppressed half-shout, "Eärendil, I've told you that isn't-", funny, she wants to say. But there is nobody behind her, nobody that she knows at least. The person that she is glancing up at is definitely not the elf that likes to see if he can set her off balance, but a stranger.

...What.

She backs up immediately, a hand going under the the dark dirty-grey coat that she is wearing which conceals almost everything else about her, ready to grab one of the weapons hidden there.

And probably bumps into the next person. Which will make her jump and dart out of the group in a hasty zigzag, deeper into the alley in search of some kind of advantageous place. Which ends up being the half-dissolved box, that really offers no advantages at all but at least feels like one.

Only then does she properly look, both at the other people in the alley and the door.

[Feel free to interrupt her at any part of this and/or be one of the people she bumps into/yells at]


B. Trick and Treating

She's stressed about the situation. Stressed out about how everything is so wrong, so dull. How there seems to be no AR at all, how she can only see half of what she can usually perceive even without the help of her contacts.

But that doesn't mean that she can't join what all the other kids are doing. What better way to explore a place and figure it out than to join a native group that ambles about the area, talks amongst each other and is let on people's property? Malicia told her about this, so she even has an idea as to what is going on.

It was easy enough to pretend that her "parents" approve of her going out but both work tonight, sadly, and asked her to find a group of kids so her trick and treating would be safe - you see, she only moved to the area recently...

And this is kind of fun. She's found that with added sunglasses, that a mother quickly procured for her, she looks somewhat like some movie character that was popular when the woman was a teenager - a great costume, even though your coat should be black, she said, and let me help you with your hair... yes, see, I know it's hard without your mom helping - so she can blend right in.

And it leaves her with candy, so what more could anyone want?

The observant looker-on will notice that one of the children in this group of trick-and-treaters looks disoriented and will prod at about every decoration while she thinks that no other member of the group is looking. And stare at pieces of infrastructure. She's also uncannily quick and dextrous when it comes to fishing the best candy out of the pot when the horde of children makes a grab for it.

She goes with two different groups in somewhat distant from each other areas and then bids the second group farewell, walking around the corner and then another before stopping and looking around for a good place to sit and examine her loot. And think about what she's learned. No need to pretend that she is going home anymore now that there are barely any people out in the streets.

...An opportunity to wash out the styling gel that the woman used to slick her hair back would be greatly appreciated, too. She reaches up and makes a face when her fingers touch the gooey mess that her hair has become now. Ew.

[Again, you can encounter her at any point of this. :3]

A

[dangerouslyinlove]

It's not until Kitty pokes her head out of the alleyway that anyone from the street outside notices her. And in this case, Ryoji's already a little bit on edge thanks to... whatever it is that just happened. So a small girl who looks that lost is definitely on his radar. "Hey..." he says, approaching with a reassuring smile and staying far enough away to hopefully not scare her, "Are you ok?"

B

[crazycatvampire]

The door opens to an extremely tall and somewhat menacing figure, draped in a black cloak that actually manages to cover his whole body, and face hidden by a round white mask. But the figure, for all he all but oozes creepiness, holds out a candy bowl, and says, "I think I'll go with treat. Take what you like."

His voice is rough and deep, but friendly, and the tiny townhouse is decorated cheerfully, so obviously trick-or-treaters are welcome.

B

[chalicejoker]

...that child is looking at infrastructure. Odd. Hajime's been wandering out where people are celebrating, taking photographs here and there as he tries to figure out the human oddity that is this holiday thing, and trick-or-treaters are just another curiosity. He's been telling curious parents he's with the newspaper, and they wanted a few general shots of trick-or-treaters for some feature article the next day. It's good enough to mollify them; he's an excellent liar.

But he's keeping an eye on the one kid who seems to be able to see the infrastructure. That's worrisome.

Ryoji Mochizuki (Native, OTA)

[dangerouslyinlove]

A

There's a shiver that runs through Ryoji's body as the sensation hits him, breaking through on the other side of... whatever just happened. He would really, really like to pretend it's nothing, just the effect it of it being Halloween and all. He knows better.

Worse, Thanatos doesn't seem to know what that was either, but it also apparently doesn't relate to what they do so the geist cares not at all. That means Ryoji's pretty much alone for this one, and he's not very happy about it. But he'll figure it out eventually! He's sure of it! He just... needs to be more aware of what's going on around him. Which includes anyone stepping out of the alleyway he passes en route to the Sin-Eater party looking rather lost. "Um... are you ok?"

B

Ryoji arrives to the trading post/party pretty much as things are winding down- he doesn't need much of anything at the moment, and for many Sin-Eaters this is a big night. As a rule, they're kind of an eclectic bunch with widely different beliefs about how the afterlife actually works, but Halloween is a pretty obvious day for them to center around and come together. Ryoji, for one, is going to celebrate- life, death, and everything in between. Which is not to say he won't get in theoretical conversations about how the afterlife works and what anchors even are and everything- he totally will, if you're a fellow Sin-Eater, since Thanatos won't fuss about that. Anyone else might get some conversation about speculating on the nature of death, however, if they're interested.

C

Ryoji decisively does not go to class the day after Halloween, sleeping off everything that happened the night previously before getting up and running a few 'errands.' Namely, stopping by the college setup to see if it'll help him settle on a major, and when that gives him too much of a headache, going to the park he found last week with the large tree.

It's not just to escape the noise that he's there, but the day after Halloween could potentially make it easier to figure out what's going on with this plaque, so he's going to try again. ...And maybe Ci will show up. Or someone else, if they wander upon him.

C

[movingon]

While he's studying the plaque, he will suddenly heart a sound behind him, near the tree - someone stepping on a patch of fallen leaves, the shuffling of a person finding their footing.

He definitely didn't hear anyone approach, nor did he see anyone anywhere when he arrived in this place.

C

[notachickenhawk]

Someone else is in the park, but he's not staring at the plaque. He is, however, sitting at the table with what looks like the remains of an alarm clock scattered in front of him. He's staring at the wires, but looks up as soon as he hears Ryoji's footsteps.

... There's the taste of ashes in his mouth again, so he just gathers his things up and offers a slight grin. "Sorry. I can get out of your way if you want."

A

[withoutaworld]

Rikki looks noticeably out of place — on top of the confused expression, both she and everything within a five foot radius of her seem as brightly colored as if she stepped out of the pages of a comic book. Still, she thought she'd been covering her disorientation a little better.

"Uh..." She hesitates for a second, reaching up to adjust the goggles she had pushed up onto her forehead. "Do I not look okay?"

Corwin Gardener | Native (Promethean) | OTA

[crazycatvampire]

I. Halloween

Corwin remembers his last Halloween. He does. It was his first, and he'd spent it with his creator, first handing out candy to the children, then prowling the city listening to spirits and seeking out places to watch the celebrating humans. He'd found it all so fascinating, and a bit freeing, since everyone could go around with a mask and a costume and their aura of creepiness seemed to fit right in.

This year it feels different, and not just, he thinks, because he's doing those same things alone.

He has his lights on an decorations out on the little home he's renting, and is ready with his round, white mask and long, concealing cloak to hand out candy from a big, generous bowl when the children come by, and he enjoys seeing their costumes and their faces, doing his best to be gentle despite the aura of unnaturalness and his immense height at just over six and a half feet. But he's itching the whole time to be out and see what is so different this year, or if it's his imagination. For a being without a soul, he does still have quite an imagination.

When it finally gets to be too late for more trick-or-treaters, he shuts off the lights and goes out in his same costume, stopping by the Sin-Eater party, the changling beach bonfire, and a couple costume bars... but mostly he's drifting around the city, looking for something amiss. Whether he'll recognize it when he sees it, though, is anyone's guess. He was only born a year ago, after all.

II. The Clean-Up

After an hour or so to recharge at home just before dawn, Corwin is back out again, this time sans costume, to help the city with clean-up after all the parties. Now he's in a dark hoodie with the hood pulled up over his ragged hair, heavy pants that are slightly too short for his frame, heavier boots, and a city-provided reflective vest while he wanders the streets and parks plucking up litter and tucking it into his trash bag, or unwinding lights from a tree in the square, or lifting the shattered and gooey remains of a pumpkin from a playground into the nearest dumpster.

He's a little tired still-- one hour of rest and recharging really isn't enough-- but it's work, and seeing what people leave behind always fascinates him.

III. The rest of the week

Corwin's actual job is hardly any more glamorous than Tuesday's clean-up: he drives a garbage truck. So every morning from before dawn until a little past noon, he's out with the noisy thing, collecting people's trash and carting it back to wherever the odd city dumps it.

He's friendly if anyone happens to come out to see the truck, despite his creepy aura and decidedly ugly appearance, and he always keeps his hood up and sunglasses on. Nobody wants to see his white-less eyes and his ragged ears, or the occasional tears in his skin under his sleeves that leak darkness.

In the afternoon and evening, he settles somewhere to people-watch and try to learn something new: a bar, a club, a park... even though he might get distracted by attempting to lure a cat to his hand for scritches. Considering they all hiss at him, his attempts rarely bear fruit.

1

[movingon]

She's not sure why she started tailing this guy. He seems to be about as out of place and aimless as her. Even more so, perhaps. She at least has the aim of keeping her head down and not being seen. But perhaps that is it, in a backwards way. A feeling of familiarity.

And, she has to admit after a while, he keeps finding interesting places. Marketplaces and bonfires (which she keeps a solid distance from) and many other things.

She stays outside the bars, but that is just as well - there is Kindred inside, she is certain of that one. But sometimes people will walk out and pass out without any help, and she can drink until she is full that way. Sure, she feels a bit light headed now, but who is she to frown on a full belly. And if she didn't have to worry about delayed reflexes and thinking, this feeling would even be nice. Things seem a bit less fearsome.

Almost all night, Corwin will have a fox following him, sneaking from shadow to shadow and ducking under bushes, doing her best to not being noticed. The fox will vanish an hour before sunrise ...unless of course Corwin notices and addresses her at any point.

1

[transient_specter]

As he approaches the bonfire, someone turns and stares at him. Not someone with a Mask... so he's wary. One of the others in the group gives Makoto a Look... but doesn't stop him as Makoto takes a few steps towards the intruder.

"Leave. This is a private party."

III

[chalicejoker]

Corwin's not the only one out people-watching, though Hajime tries to be a little more subtle about it. He's not out with his camera today, instead opting to try something new in the park. He's dressed in workout clothing and has a towel around his shoulders. Nothing here but a perfectly normal human having a perfectly normal jog. As he's jogging, he comes across the awkward guy and a hissing cat. "I guess it doesn't care much for people."

All people? Really? Something feels a little off here, but Hajime can't place it.

TRICK OR TREAT

[modmachine]

A group of three children stand at the door, all different heights, wearing various masks. Something about them seems a little off - for one thing, there doesn't seem to be an adult with their group. For another, their skin, even in the Halloween lighting, reflects a little too much light, as though someone had applied a heavy amount of metallic shimmer to it. They seem almost to glow.

In spite of the expressions on their masks (comedy, tragedy, and a skull), their shrill voices are cheerful and enthusiastic. "Trick or treat!"

Richter Belmont (Native and OTA)

[masterofthewhip]

Halloween

The headache is enough to send him home early from a regular patrol. Richter lives in a small condo, but it's still a house. He may be religious, but he still decorates for all hallow's eve. It's only as pagan as Christmas trees, after all. He'll patrol more after the trick-or-treaters have gone. For now, though, he lights the candles in his jack-o-lanterns, and looks over the surroundings. Webs in his bushes, orange twinkling lights in the windows, pumpkins on the porch. This should about do.

Annette would have loved this. She always loved holidays. She would have dressed up and hid in the bushes to scare the kids or something, while he passed out candy. Or... There's something wrong with the memory. Like he's recalling something else. Recalling going hunting, that's nothing new, but the feel of rough fabric and no armor on his skin, a kiss from his beloved - but she's been dead or away since he was 18, hasn't she? Or undead, briefly. It's really confusing.

He's so mystified that he almost misses the first wave of trick-or-treaters. The doorbell rings twice before he scoops up the bowl of candy and makes his way to the front door, not wearing a costume, just a t-shirt and jeans, his long hair tied back, as it has to be for work. "Hey there, you all look great in those costumes! Here, have some candy!"

He doesn't turn off his light until he's out of candy, and then he goes out back for a breath of fresh air and a look at the night sky, which has so many fewer stars than he remembers... even though he's lived in Hex most of his life. Maybe he's thinking of the afghan mountains?

Later on, patrolling

It's almost morning before Richter heads out again, having caught a few hours of sleep. That was enough to halt the migraine, if not the intrusive memories. They're bothersome, but he can't skip a hunt, not on such a significant night. No one's called him, at least. He'll just patrol on his own, then, call in help if he sees anything. The weight of his guns in his shoulder holsters under his jacket is comforting. The lack of weight at his hip isn't, but he's not entirely sure why.

He stops to wave at some of the men doing clean up. Some of them he knows from church, some from work, some from... other venues. Other than the occasional brief pause, his walk is purposeful, the route familiar, taking several hours to wander the city before he has to go in for work.

Later (I have no idea if this will even work as a starter)

[dangerouslyinlove]

Ryoji, meanwhile, is just turning to head home as the sun begins to rise the morning after. He's probably a little drunk, but only a little, and it is pretty clear what he's been up to all night. Namely, partying. Clearly, he is not suspicious at all.

He's far enough away from the actually (now dying- ha!) party that he's not too concerned by the man walking towards him. ...There is definitely an attempt to look more sober than he actually is, though. "Good morning!" he says, polite enough as he walks by.

Halloween

[runs]

As one of the trick-or treater groups leaves, the leave incompletely, though the two mothers that accompany them don't seem to notice, too busy wrangling two boys that are fighting about their spoils. One of the children stays back, seemingly unbothered by everyone else leaving, or perhaps simply not noticing ...not that they are really leaving. A small fight breaks out on the street, and as the group moves to the next house, they come to a total standstill as the mothers try to calm everyone down. The child that is still standing on Richter's porch is dressed up as a popular Sci-Fi character, wearing her dark coat and sunglasses. Her dark hair has been slicked back with styling gel to resemble a short men's cut.

...The figure might look familiar, even though she wore her hair open and didn't have sunglasses when they met a few hours earlier. In fact, he is kind of the reason why she is here now - she let him escort her "home" into one of the better areas of town, where they parted. And that better part of town happened to be adjacent to his area, as she just found out. Well, there are worse coincidences.

Kitty stares up at the man, looking him up and down with disapproval.

"Why are you just wearing normal clothes?"

Later on

[betterlogoutand]

Halloween is a night rich with spectral activity, so it would be a waste not to take advantage of that. Once the partying starts to die down, Haseo wanders his way over to a small graveyard by a church to see what he can gather from the local ghosts. Most of them don't seem to care too much to bother him right now, but he can at least harvest a bit of plasm from them as they mull around.

Teenagers hanging out at graveyards on Halloween night isn't the strangest thing in the world, but a lone teenager is somewhat more suspicious. That, and he's probably touching a lot of gravestones in his efforts to collect the spectral traces. He's being way more respectful than it looks like, really!

TRICK OR TREAT

[modmachine]

A group of three children stand at the door, all different heights, wearing various masks. Something about them seems a little off - for one thing, there doesn't seem to be an adult with their group. For another, their skin, even in the Halloween lighting, reflects a little too much light, as though someone had applied a heavy amount of metallic shimmer to it. They seem almost to glow.

In spite of the expressions on their masks (comedy, tragedy, and a skull), their shrill voices are cheerful and enthusiastic. "Trick or treat!"

Tobias (Native, OTA)

[notachickenhawk]

A. Halloween

There's a teenage boy wandering around, a little too old to trick or treat, but a little too young to be stuck handing out candy. He's got a backpack on his back, but no costume. From his skinny look and slightly awkward gait, he might be the wrong sort of person for a party, anyway. He's mostly sticking to the residences near the sixth, avoiding the trick or treaters with a small smile.

After all, he's gotten good at picking out which windows to crack in order to get a good meal that night. Of course the windows near the more dangerous district would crack. It's not safe there.

A bit later in the night, people can find him near the central district. He doesn't want to go to sleep yet, but he doesn't have much more to do in the waking hours. And all he's really got is the tent in the homeless camp, after all.

B. Later in the week

Tobias doesn't have a day job, but he doesn't go to school, either. Most days he can be found in the sixth, poking his nose into abandoned buildings and taking what he can get from whatever he finds. Any electronics he finds get quickly stuffed into his bag, along with wiring, nails, or anything else that looks even faintly valuable. He stays away from anything that looks currently inhabited, but not everyone goes to work or school during the day. If he stumbles across anyone, he's liable to start running or hide.

A

[cazamitad]

Anya has been here for barely any time at all, trailing a slight sense of looking at the world through gold-tinted goggles in her wake, but she's still gotta find food, and shelter, and basic necessities. Like, y'know, clothes for her girlfriend who's stuck in her uniform at the moment.

She is a bit older than the kid she's walking towards, looking to be somewhere around 18 or so, but she remembers being that age, and she knows that "being way too observant to just be wandering around" look. Usually it was her and Rikki and sometimes other people looking for trouble to STOP, but it's the same basic thing.

And hell, if this kid knows where they can get a little food and maybe some jeans and a tshirt for Rikki, she's gonna hit him up for it.

She waits until she and Tobias are basically passing each other, then turns and falls into step next to him.

"Hey, so, if a girl were trying to get her hands on dinner and maybe a change of clothes," she says, without preamble, "would you perchance know where she could find those things?"

Hajime Aikawa | Native | OTA

[chalicejoker]

Hajime's in a bad mood today. He usually isn't in what anyone might call a good mood, but today, he's on edge. Something strange is going on today, and he doesn't like it. Something's up with his memories, and that's somewhat of a cause for alarm.

Not that he's letting on--having perfect control of his facial expressions certainly helps. He's casually walking through the city with a camera around his neck, snapping pictures of all the Halloween goings-on. He's a photographer, he's taking photos, it's all normal. He's taking pictures of things like Halloween decorations and trick-or-treaters and a few of them will end up sold to some news outlet or another soon enough. Normal. Pardon the flash, he didn't realize he had it on.

Granted, his attempts at getting a little too close to that bonfire and taking pictures might not be the best idea. But hey, the camera's sort of a shield that way, right? He's just a normal human guy doing a normal human job...

[transient_specter]

No, it's definitely not a good idea. There's a person there, dressed in a blue and black jacket. He stands up tall, walking towards the photographer. He has one of his hands in his pocket and an annoyed expression on his face.

"Leave. This is a private party. Don't take pictures of us without permission." Like any of them would give permission for something that could be used to track them, anyway.

Haseo | Native, Sin-Eater | OTA

[betterlogoutand]

[A]

Haseo is loitering around the edges of the party, mostly keeping to himself and eyeing all the different people coming and going—most of them fellow Sin-Eaters, but there are a few mortals and unusual cases mixing with the rest. He contemplates asking Skeith what some of them might be, but he already knows what the answer would probably be (What, can't you figure it out yourself?).

And he can also feel the rattling laughter of Skeith's presence, so that probably really is his answer. Asshole.

Still, he came here for information, not to stare at people and argue with his geist. Bothering every single person at the party would be a waste of time, so he's taken to scoping out the people who stand out. Loners are the easiest to talk to, and anyone who doesn't "belong" could have information that a Sin-Eater might not. Whoever he ends up picking out of the crowd, he casually sidles up to them while they're alone, sipping from his (non-alcoholic, he has school tomorrow) drink.

"Hey. You know any good ghost stories?" A simple question. Nothing strange about sharing ghost stories on Halloween, right?

[B]

The day after Halloween, Ryou goes to school like the diligent student he is, of course. His parents would kill him (hah, what a good joke) if he missed any more days. That, and his grades have already started to drop thanks to all the time he's poured into his new "hobby"...

But he can at least try to have a normal life, or pretend to have one, or whatever. When lunch hour comes around, he sprawls out on an empty bench near the school grounds and stares at his phone. Just like you'd expect from a bored teenager. Really, though, he's checking the Twilight Network for anything that could be related to Tri-Edge. He can at least do that much during his "off" time.

His private school uniform is starkly different from the dark and leathery getup he was wearing as Haseo last night, but Ryou doesn't do a very thorough job of hiding his identity. He's easy enough to recognize, if anyone might've taken notice of him before. Probably as "that weird kid who keeps asking people about urban legends he read on the Internet".

B

[runs]

He might feel watched at some point, or simply hear a soft meow as Kitty stretches before shifting a bit.

There's a black kitten on the wall behind the bench that he is sitting on, watching him lazily. She might or may not have tried to catch glimpses at the screen of his phone (she most definitely did), but as soon as he looks at her she is just the most bored kitten in the world. Nothing to see here, nope.