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

[helborn]

I: Light It Up

Casper doesn't like to just sit around, especially with someone inside of him who hasn't been alive for some time. On a lot of weeknights, he can be found wandering around the park lights. He's got a little bit of pocket money, so it works. The twinkling lights are somewhat nostalgic... he remembers wandering through Christmas displays. Not that he ever really celebrated that, but it's still nice to remember. Of course, if anyone's nearby, he'll try to strike up a conversation with them.

II: Fear is Compressed

It's not as if Casper is never afraid of things. He just processes it differently. In fact, he's worried enough about things that he's spending a lot of time prowling around the edges of the city. It's taking him a few days, but he's looking for any sort of crack or oddity. Anyone near the edges of pretty much any district can find him staring at the Wall, frowning. There's got to be something here...

III: We are Magnets:

Eventually, though, Casper has to find rest somewhere. He's been trying to stick near Ryoji at night, since he has no real idea how the city works. He hasn't been around for long enough, really. Even if it's not the most pleasant of places, Casper has taken to sitting around the graveyards of the city to try to find a little peace. It's not exactly the most common idea of peaceful, but it's a sort of place he's always been comfortable with. And if a ghost wanders around, he won't exactly mind.

... Anyone living and not obviously visiting a grave, though, will get a bit of an odd look. Someone here for a similar reason to him, maybe?

III

[dangerouslyinlove]

Ryoji likes having Casper around- he's a much nicer person than Ryoji's actual roommate, and it is nice to have people around who kind of know what's going on in the world at large. Or... this world, within the walls, anyway? Suddenly it gets much more confusing when you add in all of that.

He's been a little... shaky since his nightmare last night, but he's still all smiles as normal as he settles down next to Casper.

[helborn]

It does get very confusing, but he smiles at Ryoji. "I should have guessed you'd come out here." It's just so quiet here. It makes it easier to think, even without his new friend in his head. "Are you doing okay?" He'd noticed Ryoji looking a little off this morning, but he hadn't wanted to pry.

[dangerouslyinlove]

"Mm... I'm fine, yeah." Ryoji isn't fine, exactly- the nightmare has stayed with him all day, but it's more confusion and worry than the sharp fear that had been sunk into him during the dream. He's not sure if he should talk about it, or keep it quiet, to be honest. "You?"

[helborn]

He's quiet for a few long moments, and then sighs. "Ryoji... please don't lie to me." He hasn't really told him about his lie detection, but it's... not all that hard to figure out anyway. "I'm fine. But I saw you this morning, and... I don't know. I'm just worried."

[dangerouslyinlove]

"Ah..." Well, if Casper's going to press, then he doesn't really have much choice. He chuckles weakly, ruffling his hair. "It's... fine. I had a nightmare, and I guess parts of it really weirded me out."

[helborn]

Casper scoots a tiny bit closer, nodding. "What happened? Sometimes it helps to talk things out..." At least, that's what he's heard. It's not like he's really had friends who care about his dreams, anyway.

[dangerouslyinlove]

"I guess..." Ryoji's not quite sure how to explain it. "There was a tree, and... I guess for a lack of a better word it had kind of eaten someone. And I didn't know the person, but I also... feel like I did? Which I know is kind of a thing in dreams, but this was different."

[helborn]

"Hm..." He rubs his cheek, trying to think. "A carnivorous tree... weird. And what do you mean you did but you didn't know the person? What did they look like? Can you remember?"

[dangerouslyinlove]

"I couldn't see their face... they were wearing a baseball cap, though." Ryoji sighs, trying to explain it. "I... I have seen him once, before. I got a vision, I guess, in the Underworld? Something dripped on my foot and I saw him. But that doesn't make it make more sense."

[helborn]

"A vision in the Underworld. ... Ah, shit. It must be important, then. Keep him in mind, okay? Let me know if you think of anything else about him." Unfortunately, he's not yet good enough to track people he's not in contact with. One day...

[dangerouslyinlove]

"Mm..." He knows, and that's part of what's concerning about it. And the harder he thinks... "It... it feels like I should know him. But I don't really remember anything about him. Not even a name."

[helborn]

"... I'm sorry, Ryoji. That must be really frustrating." He reaches out to put a hand on his friend's knee, and then pulls back. ... No. Too much touching. It's probably just awkward.

[dangerouslyinlove]

Ryoji notices the motion, though, and he smiles, leaning a little bit on Casper. Hey, he almost started it. "Yeah. But... I'm sure it'll be ok. If it's important I'll probably figure it out eventually, right?" He dares to be optimistic in all things.

[helborn]

Casper stiffens, a little startled at the touch. Sure, he went for it, but he didn't think Ryoji would follow through. Everything he was going to say disappears entirely from his mind, leaving him stammering and flushing slightly. "I - um. I mean. I... uh..."

He stares at the ground, clenching his hands into fists. He... he doesn't like telling people, but Ryoji's just friendly. So he... should know so he doesn't take it the wrong way. ... And so that he can leave the friendship before it gets too painful.

"Sorry, I'm... I'm not like - I'm... I like guys. R-romantically. So I know you're just being friendly, but I - sorry, it's not like - oh, gods." He presses the palms of his balled-up hands against his eyes, curling his body up a bit more.

[dangerouslyinlove]

It's kind of cute when Casper is so flustered, but Ryoji also really doesn't want to make him feel bad. Which is certainly what the initial reaction looks like, so he pulls back, concern all over his face as he examines Casper's, trying to figure out where he went wrong, exactly.

Casper explaining, well... it doesn't actually explain a whole lot to Ryoji. But he offers Casper a gentle smile and a tilt of his head, not moving further away than he already had. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out... but... what do you mean by you 'know' I'm just being friendly?"

Yeah he is definitely still flirting.

[helborn]

"I... no, you weren't freaking me out, I just didn't want you to think I was a..." Wait. What.

"I mean - you wouldn't - I'm just... it's not like we... it's just that most people wouldn't want to be anywhere... near... someone like me..."

[dangerouslyinlove]

"I'm not really sure what you're trying to say..." Since a lot of it is getting cut out, but Ryoji's still smiling. "But I like being around you! So... please don't worry about something like that."

II

[runs]

"You can go on top of them, you know?"

There's a kid next to Casper all of a sudden, a kid he knows.

[helborn]

Hello there, Kitty.

"I know I can go on top of the wall, but I'm trying to figure out what it's made of, for a start."

[runs]

"Gears." Well, partially, anyway. A big enough part to warrant that description, anyway. "Gears that are big and strong enough to grind you to death and if you try to stop them an angel will come and kill you or worse."

[helborn]

"... An angel?" He tilts his head curiously. "What do you mean?"

[runs]

"When there's gears things, sometimes there are weird creatures around them that fly around and will make you dead if you try to damage the structure. That's angels."

Or so Hajime and the guy said and she observed and put two and two together.

[helborn]

"... Huh. I don't think that's really true where I'm from, but I don't know. Do you know what these angels look like? Are we talking classical mythology freaky things, or the kind with halos and fluffy wings?"

[runs]

"Some of them have wings. They usually aren't pretty." Not necessarily ugly, but they tend to lack all kinds of features that would make someone pretty.