WEEK 06

[modmachine]

Moon phase: The first quarter moon is on Wednesday the 7th, and the moon will be nearly full on the weekend.

Weather forecast: After so many days of clouds and threatening, the freeze has arrived for the year beneath an open sky.

Ghost Bust(ers): On Tuesday, Ryoji will get a message from Autumn on the Twilight Network, letting him know that the situation involving the old man’s ghost has been resolved.

E(dda) T(ravis), Phone Home: On Wednesday evening, Corwin gets a phone call from Edda, asking if she can come over sometime on Saturday.

To Invitations: Speaking of Corwin's house, both he and Malin will be able to notice signs of something in the trees nearest the place occasionally. Whatever it is is the size of a large racoon and seems most comfortable staying in the trees, especially during daylight hours. Large claw scratches can be found in the trunks frequently.

Sparkle and Flicker: The park light displays put up throughout the end of November are now open to the public, from now until New Year's. They're drive-through-only on weekends, but on weeknights, when the goal isn't getting as many people through as possible for the park to have budget until summer boating season, it's just as likely that people will park at the nearby ice rink and walk through the well-lit sidewalks. (It helps that there's a discount for families on Tuesday and college students on Thursday, too.) Of course, off the paths, you can never be quite sure what you'll encounter…

Red like... Cherries?: While Tobias seems to have scared the 'younger' Beast off from his own Lair, it seems to have decided to hang around picking out easy targets. Those who are closer to Tobias will find themselves plagued with dreams of a blooming cherry tree throughout the week. Approaching the tree within the dream will reveal that the bark is coated with dripping blood - looking up for the source will show someone close to the viewer impaled on sharp branches, the blossoms on the other side of the body in perfect condition.

Tell me True: Various hunter channels, including Network Zero, start to get posts from someone talking about 'the truth of the city' and 'the real power here.' This isn't completely abnormal for them, given how many conspiracy theorists (right and wrong) are in such places... But what's odd is the amateur photography and exacting records of trains going around the city, and how food seems to appear from nowhere on them. Anyone wanting further information is encouraged to contact the poster by leaving a note at a certain abandoned house in the Residential District.

Cutting Loose: The local high schools are also empty for winter break, which means there's a lot more teenagers on the streets of the Residential and Sixth districts than usual. In particular, a senior in a red aquarium hoodie can be spotted skateboarding around by himself, in places you're specifically not supposed to skateboard, almost out of spite. Some of those places skirt dangerously close to Infrastructure, and even straight through it if it's outside buildings. The only place he seems unwilling to disrespect is a graveyard on the border between the two Districts, where he goes and sits in front of a headstone most afternoons to eat his small packed lunch.

Comments

[crazycatvampire]

I. Invitations

Corwin doesn't expect there to be animals anywhere near his house when he's in it, to be quite honest. Malin is the closest thing to an animal that can stand him. So while he notices the claw marks, it takes him several days to actually catch sight of the creature making them, and even then it's fleeting and surprising.

Still, if there's an animal who decided to make his house its territory, far be it from him to complain! Instead, he's increasing the amount of cat food he leaves out for Kitty, leaving some on the porch and some more under one of the trees within view of his living backyard window, which he then leaves one of the curtains open on. He wants to see if he can get a glimpse of whatever it is, if it will come down during his off-hours while working on his experiments, and while he's recharging.

II. Tell me True (and general stuff)

While out and about making his usual rounds of watching the city's inhabitants and checking on places he's seen strange ice and signs of the supernatural-- like the park where he'd met the hunted one, or the place where the goblin market entrance had been-- Corwin also drops by that certain abandoned house to leave his email address. Why not, after all? It could be interesting, and he's started to have doubts about... something. He's not sure what, but definitely something is worrying him.

Something to do with that vivid imagery of biting and drinking and killing, that came from catching Malin at dinner, and the inexplicable and troubling certainty that he'd done that before.

So while he waits to hear back, he's prowling, he's fretting, and he's worrying at his not-real brain in the hopes of coming up with an answer. Anyone who recognizes him by now would recognize he's distracted.

III. Phone Home

It's with surprise and pleasure and worry, all rolled into one, that Corwin makes sure to clear his afternoon for Edda on Saturday-- though he's just as surprised it's not including Avere, as he is that she's contacting him at all. He warns Malin that they will have company, but she can keep her door locked and they will do their level best not to bother her, since it's during daylight hours.

He actually buys some tea and cookies, just so he has something to feed Edda when she shows up, and he spends all his time until she arrives fretting that something is wrong. After all, something wrong and strange happened to him that he still can't explain... maybe Avere is malfunctioning somehow. If that's what this is about, he's going to be terribly upset.

II

[dangerouslyinlove]

Corwin is not the most comfortable person to hang around for long, but Ryoji has been trying to be conscious of how he reacts around the man when he sees them, since Corwin warned him about the freak-outs some people apparently get. So even though there is a bit of distress when Corwin comes into the area, Ryoji will smile and wave at him, but...

"Hey! Are you ok?" Something seems wrong.

[crazycatvampire]

Corwin offers a small smile in answer, glad to see someone who's willing to talk to him, and knows something of what he's really like. "I am worried about myself," he answers, because he's not great at small talk and it's hard to focus on, anyway, when you're worried and uncertain.

[dangerouslyinlove]

That... is not terribly helpful. "Um... what do you mean?" Ryoji asks, very puzzled by that response and a little worried.

[crazycatvampire]

"I don't know," Corwin answers, which also doesn't help. He does give it a try, though, drifting over in Ryoji's direction. "I saw something, in my head, that doesn't belong there. Like a memory, only it can't possibly be mine. And it's... disturbing."

[dangerouslyinlove]

...Ah. Ryoji might actually know what he means by that, in a way. "What was it?"

[crazycatvampire]

Corwin pauses to think for a beat, then asks, "Do you know what a vampire is, Ryoji?" Because he should probably start there, and make sure he has something to relate the vision to.

[dangerouslyinlove]

That is not a good way to start. "Um... yes, I do." But he's pretty sure you're not a vampire. ...Pretty sure.

[crazycatvampire]

Good, then he has a starting point. "That's what I saw, or felt, or remembered-- only it can't be a memory, because I'm not a vampire. This body doesn't have fangs at all. I don't even eat, much less eat blood. But that's what I saw, biting someone and eating their blood." He shudders. "It was horrible."

[dangerouslyinlove]

"Oh." Wow. That... sounds really upsetting, to be totally honest. "It sounds like it... do you think it was just a nightmare?" Why would he have a nightmare about vampires? Maybe he's been hanging around one or something.

[crazycatvampire]

"I don't sleep, and I don't dream, and anyway I was out at the park, and I found my vampire friend doing just that, and it kind of-- brought it on?" he guesses is the right word, there. "Like seeing her do it triggered the vision."

[dangerouslyinlove]

"Oh." Well that... changes some things. "That's really weird. But..." Hm. Actually, he wonders if this has anything to do with what Lirisoir was talking about.

I

[movingon]

"...Have you found what made them?"

The scratches haven't been there for long, so she hasn't really looked into them yet, but her question still holds more than idle curiosity. After all with an animal coming this close to Corwin... you got to wonder if someone supernatural is spying on them.

[crazycatvampire]

"Not yet, but if it's something that can stand being around me, I definitely want to," Corwin says, pausing yet again in stirring the concoction in his beaker to peer out the window. Since it's after dark, it's safe for Malin to be around with the curtains apart. He doesn't want to put her in danger, after all-- she's more important than an animal. But he's definitely curious.

"I put out some food, so maybe it will come down where we can see it," he adds hopefully.

[movingon]

"If it can stand being around you, it might not be a regular animal at all."

It's half a wish to caution against too much trust and thus protect Corwin, and half the worry of losing him speaking - she wouldn't mind sharing him in theory, but she knows all too well from experience that things don't work that way. An animal would be no issue, but if it's something else and Corwin befriends the something else, she is almost certain that he'll decide to replace her. Because that is how such things work. If someone who can fill her position - a friend, someone who will readily be around Corwin - comes along, and she doesn't fight nail and teeth to not let them be better at that than her, she will be replaced. And as bad as that would be emotionally, it would be worse practically. He's more than a friend, he's providing shelter for her and knows way too much about her. So in part, her words are an attempt at a precaution, to sow distrust between that whoever or whatever and Corwin.

"You should be careful until we know what it is."

[crazycatvampire]

"I'll be careful," Corwin promises, but in a distracted manner, letting the curtain fall again. "Though I doubt it will be able to hurt me, whatever it is. It might be able to hurt you...." He hasn't quite been convinced that vampires aren't as durable and quick to repair themselves as Prometheans are.

[movingon]

"Maybe." There are very few ways to easily kill a vampire, and she's trusting Corwin with a main one, in a way - yes, she locks the door to her room during the day, but she doesn't have illusions regarding that he could get into that room and draw open the curtains any time if he wanted. But she trusts him, is the point, and that is just another reason to monitor this closely, lest he come under the influence of someone who wants to harm her. "And maybe they can harm you, too."

[crazycatvampire]

"Even if they could, I'm easy to repair," Corwin says, largely unconcerned. "We have to be, when we upset people so often that they get violent at us. What do you think it could be, if it's something not normal and simply animal-ish?" Because she knows more about this sort of thing than he does.

[movingon]

"If you can be harmed, you can be harmed badly enough to not be able to get up and repair yourself in the end. Even lupines can be harmed that badly, they say." It's not a feat that she could perform, but dogcatchers exist for a reason, right? And if lupines can be killed, every living creature can.

She has to shrug at that, though. "Something undead or something created, maybe?"

[crazycatvampire]

"Would you be able to tell if there was someone else undead around?" Corwin asks, blinking over at her curiously. "I don't know if anyone can create something like me in an animal shape, though... it might be possible, but I don't know if it's a good idea."

[movingon]

"...Perhaps to a degree." Dead things smell differently from living ones and have no body heat and such, but that won't help without her actually seeing the thing and be in a close enough proximity for both to work.

"But I couldn't sense it without seeing it, I don't think."

[crazycatvampire]

"And I can't even reliably recognize someone like me, unless they tell me," Corwin admits. "I suppose we'll have to wait until we catch sight of it, or at least maybe get some tracks to compare to. I have a book in here somewhere with animal tracks."

And now he's leaving his mixture behind to try and hunt it down through the stacks of books and papers all over the room.

[movingon]

She watches him go off on his book hunt.

"Is there no telling sign that betrays people like you?"

[crazycatvampire]

"There's the unease everyone feels around us, but I can't feel that," Corwin explains. "I suppose if they're stitched up and I saw a seam, or they're like me and the leak blackness if they get upset or distracted and I saw that. But that would mean they weren't being careful. I could look for people who were sunglasses even indoors or at night, but that could be anything, really. So it's mostly a lot of small things that might, if I'm lucky, add up to someone being like me. Aha, found it!"

He pulls the book out from under a stack of other books, and papers, and a corked flask of something that looks like sludgy mud.

[movingon]

She nods at his explanation and steps out behind him to look over his shoulder (or around his shoulder, rather) and see what he's found there.