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

[dangerouslyinlove]

I. Ghost Busters

The note is good sign, probably! Ryoji heads back to the warehouse to check up on it, since 'resolved' can mean a bunch of things... and maybe he'll run into Autumn there, if she's around. He hopes it means that the ghost found peace, but he's not always sure what other Sin-Eaters do to achieve that.

II. Red like Cherries

Ryoji has kind of weird dreams to begin with, but this is... more out there than normal. Especially when he gets to the tree and looks at the person in it.

It's a boy, about his age, face obscure by a baseball cap tilted down over it. Ryoji doesn't know this person, and therefore it shouldn't really bother him. Death doesn't as a general rule these days. But that's not what happens. He is upset when he sees the boy there, with a sense of more personal loss than he's known in a while. It hurts, and there's that feeling of being alone, being left behind.

...But, hang on. Does he know this boy? He's starting to look a little familiar, and Ryoji approaches the tree carefully, trying to get a better look.

III. Sparkle and Flicker (and general)

The lights are always nice, and Ryoji will totally take up discounts for college students, but he's not very good at staying where he's supposed to anyway. It's quite hard to not get curious and explore, at least for him. And the park is where some of his friends are staying, and he is definitely still going to be checking up on them. A lot. They can't escape. Or heck, even random people that look vaguely familiar. He'll smile and wave and say, "Hi, how are you doing?" and good luck getting away without any conversation.

His dorm is pretty quiet right now, most of the students still out for the break, so Casper and Kitty and whoever else would like are more than welcome to stay with him, and he's a little insistent about it. Though whoever's staying with him might notice he's a little shaken up after waking from a very, very distressing dream...

I

[modmachine]

Autumn is indeed there, leaning against the side of the building and humming as she works on stitching up the side of a very worn-out looking teddy bear. She quirks her head as she listens to her Geist whisper in her hear, and looks up, smiling at Ryoji.

"Hey there! How's it going?"

[dangerouslyinlove]

"Good!" Ryoji beams back, approaching her, "I got your message. Did you guys manage to help him out?"

[modmachine]

She grimaces a little bit, shifting uncomfortably. "Yeah... kind of. Dexter's not... as gentle about it as I'd like."

[dangerouslyinlove]

...Oh. Ryoji feels Thanatos stiffen behind him, flaring its wings out in what is a likely precursory to anger. "...What happened?" He needs to know, even if there's a decent chance he's going to have to make sure Thanatos doesn't do anything, well. Rash.

[modmachine]

"He uh." Autumn tucks the needle into a long piece of fabric for safekeeping, folding it up and tucking it back into her bag. She brushes some of her hair away from her face before continuing. "He basically half-convinced and half-dragged the guy to a gate and made him go in. He really didn't want to, but Dexter was pretty pushy about it. I told him that he shouldn't make the guy leave if he didn't want to, but he started talking about how the guy would probably just make more trouble and get more people hurt if he didn't leave. I mean, he's not... wrong, just... yeah."

[dangerouslyinlove]

That is about the answer Ryoji was expecting, unfortunately. Thanatos also expected it, but it doesn't make it any happier about it. Its wings expand to their full size now, making him a towering monster looming behind Ryoji. Ryoji can feel it doing it, but his expression doesn't change. There is, once again, a reason it's good that Ryoji is the one most people can see. "I wish he hadn't done that," he says with a sigh, though it is a massive understatement, "I had a plan to make it easier, it just would have taken more time..." And what Dexter did is not helping the ghost find peace.

[modmachine]

She doesn't react to Thanatos - really, if she reacted to every Geist she wouldn't be able to focus. "I know... I know. He's... got issues. I mean, not like the rest of us don't, coming back from dying and all. But he doesn't listen. He just does his own thing. I know he means well, but..."

[dangerouslyinlove]

"But meaning well isn't everything." There are plenty of people who 'mean well' and do more harm than good. Ryoji sighs, ruffling his hair. "...Do you guys actually work together, or are you just friends?" Assuming they're even friends, it was a little harder to tell from Dexter's attitude. He's not sure if either answer would make him feel better- if he's not in a krewe, that's not always a good sign, but if this is with a krewe attempting to contain him...

[modmachine]

"... Kind of both? We... um." She rubs at her wrists, swallowing thickly. "We both came back around the same time. So we both figured things out together. He'd never call us friends... but I think of him as one. We're not really part of anything formal. I know some Sin-Eaters are, and that's great. We just haven't... found people to be with, yet. And I don't think he'd ever join up, anyway."

Autumn shakes her head, trying to get her pep back. "But he's getting better, I swear! When we first came back, he never did anything his Geist wanted. And, you know. We can't do that all the time, but sometimes... anyway, they're getting along a lot better now!"

[dangerouslyinlove]

Yeah, Ryoji is not sure how much that is a good sign, but he'll try to cheer up a bit when she does. Even though his mind is very much still on what has happened. "How long ago was it for you guys?" he asks quietly. He's very well adjusted as a Sin-Eater, but he recognizes most people didn't die as young as he did the first time.

[modmachine]

She thinks, tapping her finger to her lips. "A few months ago, I think? Yeah, about four or so. I don't know the exact date for him. It... seemed kind of rude to ask. I know it was... really violent, and he flinches whenever there's a gunshot, but I haven't pushed him. I think he knows about mine, but... I was kind of obvious about it in the beginning."

[dangerouslyinlove]

"Oh, so you're both pretty recent..." That explains some of it, but Dexter still needs to learn that he can't do that. It'll hurt more than help, in the end. This is a tricky topic, so he doesn't blame her at all for not having asked deeper questions. Even if she's 'obvious' about it, he's still a little hesitant to ask. "...Can I ask what happened with you?"

III

[runs]

He'll wake up to a kitten snuggled up against him after his distressing dream. It was always very useful when Chantalle was sad or distressed, she found, and she could hardly ignore Ryoji's distress, even if it was just a nightmare.

[dangerouslyinlove]

...Awww. Even though he is a bit panicked and very confused after the nightmare, kitties do help. Ryoji smiles a little, shocked awake by the ending of the dream, and will just pet her for a moment. (She is definitely a cat, which is a thing he has to focus on because thinking she's a girl is way too weird.)

[runs]

She purrs at the pettings and lazily opens her eyes only enough to look at him and see how he's doing. When he looks rather terribly, she snuggles a bit closer and then climbs onto his chest and starts kneading.

[dangerouslyinlove]

That is ridiculously adorable. Ryoji will continue to lie there and pet her until his breathing calms and his heartrate goes back to normal. ...It takes much longer than he feels like it should. "Thanks."

[runs]

She stops for a moment to bump her head against his chin - duh, of course she'd help him when he needs it! - and then looks at him questioningly. What happened?

[dangerouslyinlove]

Ryoji shrugs, kind of understanding the implied question. "Just a nightmare," he says, still petting her, "I'll be ok." It's not really, after all. None of it.

[runs]

She meows at him. That's not a sufficient enough explanation. That seems to have been a bad nightmare.

[dangerouslyinlove]

Unfortunately, Ryoji doesn’t actually understand meows, so he doesn’t realize she’s asking for more information about the nature of the nightmare. And he’s not sure how much he wants to talk about it right this second having just escaped from it. So instead of answering, Kitty just gets more pets.

[runs]

Well, more pets are good, too. She settles in, sleepily kneading his chest, and purrs softly.

She'll stay here until he falls asleep again, or until he gets up in the morning. Depending on who falls asleep first.

[dangerouslyinlove]

He will eventually fall asleep again, though it takes much longer than he would like. At least there's no class the following morning... is she still there when he wakes up again?

[runs]

She is, though she has changed in the t-shirt that he gave her earlier (and dug through his shirts drawer for that, which is still open with some of the shirts strewn around the floor in front of it) and is curled up in her human form at the foot of his bed, having pulled some of his blanket over herself.

[dangerouslyinlove]

This is so much weirder than having a cat on his bed. Ryoji will let her sleep, pulling himself out of bed and trying not to disturb her as he goes to brush his teeth and change and everything. (He will close the bathroom door.)