[open & closed] We walk these streets, but not alone

[runs]

1. Open (Nov 4th)

There is a very basic problem that occurs to Kitty towards the end of her first day in Hex, around the time when the candy from the night before runs out: She has no currency on her that would be accepted here, no place to return to in the evening where she will find food, and no way of finding work that she could earn some money with. Even if there is something that she could do to earn money, she wouldn't know what it would be and how to get to do it.

She resorts to shoplifting that evening, but that really only helps for one meal and smuggling food out of a shop is not that easy when you're young and thus turn people's head just by being in the store alone and not in the candy section.

No. She needs to find something better to do. So that night, she can be found out in the streets where there are bars, or even just shady looking backalleys, hoping to find someone who passed out from alcohol and still has their wallet on them. Or who can't resist her searching hands for other reasons, she isn't picky (and doesn't even think to call an ambulance or police because that just wouldn't even be an option back home). It takes all night, and doesn't turn up with much, but she has a few bucks in the morning, enough to last her for a few days. But she's tired, and it was a pretty tedious search with more than one disappointment and one or two unpleasant almost-encounters.

Still, the money doesn't last her long and thus she's out on the nightly streets again a few days later. She almost squeals in excitement when the first limp body that she finds still has its wallet, creepy as the corpse is. Because that is what it is, she notices. It isn't even the lack of breathing that tips her off, it is the unnatural lack of essence. As if someone forcibly removed it... Her head shoots up and she jumps to her feet and dive under some garbage bags that are piled up behind her, just in time as a woman turns the corner. She can hear the woman curse about children (?) and then some shuffling and rustling, and when everything is finally quiet again and she crawls out from under the garbage bags, only enough to peer down the street, stinking and shaken, the corpse is gone.

If nobody finds her there, she will quickly retreat then - not to any specific location, just to somewhere else, further away from the bars, and once a quiet corner is found, sit down there and try to catch her breath. "Drek," she whispers and closes her eyes for a moment. "Drek."


2. closed to Ryoji (Nov 5th)

Kitty is a busy bee during her first week in Hex. Aside from trying to figure out how to eat, she also tries to learn more about two people: Corwin and Ryoji. The former because something is just seriously wrong with that guy, and the latter because ...well, he gave her her phone number and is local. He might be a very useful contact, but she wants to know more about him before she uses this.

It doesn't take her long to find him - knowing that he is a college student helps a lot. She follows him for two days - mostly in her cat shape - before she finally decides that he might be eccentric, but safe enough and calls him. She'll just let the phone ring until he answers, no matter how long that takes.


3. closed to NPCs (Okt 31)

She's been around for a few hours, joining other children while trick-and-treating, and thinks that she has a decent enough grasp on the concept. It's for children that still have early bedtimes and need to be attended by an adult.

So seeing a group of children who are still out and about and who don't have an adult with them, a good while after she has parted with her second group and watched the trick-and-treaters vanish from the street gives her pause and makes her halt her steps just after stepping around the corner to watch them.

Sure, she's still out and about without an adult herself, but that's different. What are they doing here?

Comments

2

[dangerouslyinlove]

Ryoji hadn't been doing much in particular- he was a little worn out from the beginning of the week and didn't really have good leads he wanted to follow immediately. Other than that stupid plaque in the park- he was wondering if it was a Gate, and he and Thanatos needed some of those. For... reasons.

He's in his dorm room, staring blankly at his writing assignment when the phone rings. It's a number he doesn't recognize, but... that does not mean he's not going to answer. "Hello?"

[runs]

"You told me to call you."

She forgets that he might actually want some information on who this caller is. At least the voice that clearly reflects her age might give him a hint?

[dangerouslyinlove]

There's a long pause, because she wasn't actually the only person Ryoji told to call him over the past week, but she's definitely the only one that would sound so young. "Ebru?" He really hopes it's her, because otherwise he's going to start being worried. "Hi! How are you doing?"

[runs]

"Yes.

I'm fine. Do you have time to meet?" Good would be an exaggeration, but she's fine. She has found a place to stay that is hopefully safe, she's found a way to get money though it is only an emergency solution... And she's working on things getting better. Or at least more interesting and less tedious.

[dangerouslyinlove]

"Yeah, sure!" He can make time, anyway. He has to make time for a lot of things, in between everything he has to or feels like he has to do. And if she's asking to meet up, there's a good chance she needs help with someone. "When did you want to?"

[runs]

"Anytime, as long as it's before 11."

Not because she needs to be home or in bed then, but because she needs to scour the streets for people who can't defend their purse anymore again. She was too shaken the night before to continue, and she has barely enough money left to buy a can of whatever for dinner.

People tend to not lie around drunk or dead too early on at night, though.

[dangerouslyinlove]

11 seems like an awfully late curfew for such a young girl, anyway... "Alright. Ummm, how about around 6 or so? D'you have a place you'd want to meet up?" He probably has enough money to buy her dinner if she needs it.

[runs]

"There is a place with benches and picnic tables at the park side of the corner of Fifth Avenue and Jackson Street."

All of which are made out of wood. Which vampires are allergic to, if she remembers correctly. She'd just really like to not run into one again if she can avoid it.

[dangerouslyinlove]

"Ok. Do you want to have a picnic or something? I can bring some sandwiches, since that's around dinner time." Assuming she'll trust something he makes. She seemed like a pretty wary kid, but maybe they're over that now.

[runs]

She does wonder if there is a deeper meaning behind this than just that he doesn't want to eat while she's not, but sandwiches are a pretty nice. Especially when the alternative is soup that could be made of soy going by how it tastes.

"Yes!" Yeah, definitely not going to say no over here.

[dangerouslyinlove]

Oh good. Not the most suspicious of him then. "Alright. I'll see you then, ok?"

He will make several types of sandwiches. In case she doesn't like peanut butter, there's some deli meat and stuff too. And steals some of his roommate's leftover tuna salad to make some, too. Seriously he has no idea what this girl likes, he'll take a bunch of different things.

[runs]

"Until then!"

She'll eat all of it and get a tummyache, probably.

When he arrives at the location, she's already there, sitting on a bench with both legs pulled up so her feet are under her butt and her knees rest against her chin, her ...well, it looks like a fancy smartphone lying on the table before her, apparently playing a movie or something similar. At the moment, she's too immersed to notice his approach.

[dangerouslyinlove]

There are so many kids with smartphones and stuff today... maybe she really does have a place she belongs, if she's got one that streams and everything. Ryoji smiles as he approaches, sitting down across from her and plopping a lunchbag with sandwiches and a few chip bags on the table. "Hey! What're you watching?"

[modmachine]

The three children seem to still be greatly entertained; they huddle together and giggle before approaching the next house. True to the 'rules' that Kitty would probably have heard in her time with the second group, as people start to run out of candy, they don't bother with houses that don't have lights on. Unfortunately, unlike the children accompanied by adults, they seem to consider any kind of light-up decoration to count as a 'light' for their purposes (other than jack-o-lanterns with candles; electric ones are still fair game).

[runs]

They have a curious, and Kitty decides to get closer, though she stops a few houses away, half hidden behind a decorative bush, peering across the lawns to see what they are doing there. Sure, that house still has lights on, but gets the feeling that that is just the regular porch light, modified to look like a pumpkin for the season. Does that count?

[modmachine]

It counts enough for them, at least; they gather up in front of the door before the tallest one reaches up and rings it. There's a slight pause before the door opens and a young woman steps out with a bowl full of candy to the loud chorus of "TRICK OR TREAT" from the three children. All three reach into the bowl and pick out something, stuffing the candy into pockets of their costumes before sprinting across the lawn, waving and yelling thank-yous to the lady on the porch.

[runs]

Well, that looked normal enough. Those children still seem ...weird. But manageable so. Perhaps they are just homeless, or their parents don't supervise them, or they belong to some kind of gang and are spying out houses?

...Kitty steps back onto the street, but doesn't approach yet. Instead, she'll follow them for a bit. See what exactly it is that they are doing.

[modmachine]

Something a little odd happens at the next house; though the porch light is on, the children gather up in front of the wrought-iron gate in the matching fence instead of going up.

"You touch it!" says the shortest one, pointing at the tallest one.

"No, you touch it!" comes the reply, the childish tones of their voices carrying easily to Kitty.

There's a bit of a standoff for a moment, before the middle-height one just starts walking down the street again, their two companions chasing after.

[runs]

They act like it's made of silver Kitty thinks, wrinkling her nose. Sillies. Nobody would make a gate out of that. It's iron, if it is even that high end. ...Nobody is allergic to iron, right? But then, you can be allergic to sunlight, flowers and about every thing under the skies, so why not iron.

Then they're just dumb. You bring someone with you who doesn't share your allergy when you do things and don't want to run into ridiculous roadblocks.

So maybe they're just being weird, or there is something different going on with that gate.

She'll keep her distance for now, but still follow, until she reaches those gates. She needs to force herself a bit to poke a fingertip against the gate, but... nope. Nothing weird here that she can feel or see, neither physically nor spiritually.

[modmachine]

Nope, nothing funny with the gate at all! It's perfectly normal metal, with just the right amount of fall chill to it.

While she's poking the gate, the children have gotten candy successfully from two houses down, and are approaching the house after that, which has its porch lights out but a string of orange plastic pumpkin lights hanging over its banister. The children ring the doorbell and wait.

[runs]

She pushes at the gate a bit to see if it will open normally while keeping an eye out for what the children are doing.

Okay, that house ...well, it's only technically lit anymore. But they seemed a bit dumb about this gate, too, maybe they just don't get degrees of lighting up your porch? Or maybe that is the point. She bites her lower lip and for a split second considers just leaving them to it. But she's got nothing better to do and if she can get more food out of this - real apples, for one -... perhaps she should ask if she can join them. After all she has at least one skill that they don't have, it seems. A perfectly mundane one, too.

[modmachine]

There's a simple latch, but other than that, it pushes open normally.

Indeed, the house is technically not lit, and no one comes to the door. The kids stand around for a minute, huddling together on the front porch, the volume of their giggles slowly increasing.

[runs]

Okay so...

Was their issue really with the material? There's no kind of security mechanism or barrier reenforcing it...

And they seem to be excited about the lack of answer. So are they with a gang and spying for empty houses?

[modmachine]

The huddle soon breaks apart - the children chant, "Trick, trick, trick!" and scatter across the lawn, soon darting around the far side of the house. Kitty will have to approach closer if she wants to see what they're doing.

[runs]

She wants to see more and thus approaches, not bothering to conceal herself - the sunglasses hide a good deal of her face, anyway, and if they are okay she's still thinking about asking them if she can join for a bit.

So she simply walks up the street and then onto the lawn, only making sure to not be spotted by a resident of the houses around her, or as sure as she can make of that, anyway.