cityofhex | [Closed] [Nov. 2] world was moving on with you a step behind;

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[Closed] [Nov. 2] world was moving on with you a step behind;

Tobias sat on the picnic table, waiting for the guy he'd met to show up. His Beast is somewhat hungry, prowling in his soul, and he hopes that this will pay off. He seems like a hard guy to spook... he'd been excited by the idea of something creepy.

... Well, this would either pay off with a decent amount of fear, give him a new ally, or he'd be dead. The last of the options wasn't the best one, but he'd accepted long ago that he was going to end up dead sooner or later.

He'd just expected that he'd be one of the first. Whatever. He'd moved stashes from that building, and now that it was starting to get dark, it would be a good setting for a creepy atmosphere. Now it was just a matter of waiting and seeing what the outcome would be.

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"It's... kind of frustrating when you need to know how to take out an enemy, though." All of these years, and they still haven't killed off all of the Strix in the area. He's pretty sure they've pumped Ax for as much information as he has on them, though.

"Huh? Here? No. I kind of live all over... usually on roofs when the weather's nice." People don't look up, after all, so it's easy to escape notice.

"Yeah, there is that..." Even laying a ghost to rest is a different task each time. It would be kind of nice if it was more straightforward, like things seemed to be in movies and stuff. Sigh.

"Oh, really? That's pretty cool." It's... pretty clear Tobias doesn't live with his family anymore, which is understandable. Ryoji got away with it, and his mother is still trying to be a little overprotective even though he's not living at home, but that's just not possible for a lot of people in their... unique situations.

"It's nice... I don't mind it. I've been doing it for a while, even when I was with my group. We all sort of had our own situations... sometimes I crashed on someone's couch when the weather was bad." He's got a tent that he can use, but it's not the same. And even buildings that have decent insulation might be hard to find soon, if the temperature dips.

Still... no need to bother him with that. "Do you spend most of your free time working with ghosts and stuff?" He's... always been kind of curious how 'normal' teenagers spend their time.

Hmm. Well, Ryoji's not sure if Tobias trusts him enough yet, but-- "If you need, I've got a couch in my apartment. You might have to deal with my roommates some, but they wouldn't mind and they don't ask a lot of questions." That's what Ryoji likes best about them.

"A lot of it," he says, nodding, "But... if dying taught me anything, it was to enjoy my life while I had it. So I try to have a lot of fun and try new things too."

"... Thanks." He's not sure if he'll ever take it up, but it's good to know. This guy seems to not be super dangerous... on the surface. He might want to keep an eye on him, though.

Enjoy life... huh. "I'm not - I don't usually have much time to do that kind of thing. I guess I have more time now, but... I've been fighting things for a long time. I'm sort of on a break right now, but that... kind of thing won't stay quiet forever, whether I'm with the others or not."

Far enough. It's not like Ryoji's going to give away all his secrets in one go either.

Ryoji hums, considering it. "What kind of things do you like?" he asks, smiling, "I know you talked about drawing... living life doesn't have be going out and meeting everyone in the world or things like that. Little things are alright too. And even if your world is full of fighting, I think it's still important to have those things that are just for you."

What sort of things he likes... he hasn't done a ton that's not just survival stuff in a while. "Reading... I used to like hanging out at the mall or watching birds, but not as much anymore. I like parkour, though. It's as close to true flying as I can usually get." And it helps that he can jump really high, too.

"Why don't you do them anymore?" Maybe that's kind of an obvious question, but Ryoji doesn't think the life he's leading now should force him to be unhappy. Which... he suspects Tobias is.

"... I don't really have time. I spend most of my time looking for things to sell for food money and other stuff." He doesn't really want to make Ryoji feel bad for him or anything, but that's just... the truth.

Ryoji nods. He gets it, but it is kind of sad. "...I don't know if this would be something you'd be interested in..." he says, thinking over how to kill two birds with one stone (metaphorically speaking), "But have you ever tried selling your art? Some people might really like it, and then you'd still be able to do that too. I mean, I'm not going to tell you to do it, but it's an idea if it would make you happier."

"I..." He hesitates, biting his lip, worry in his eyes. "It's not all that good, it's not like anyone would want to buy it... I... I mean... I'm not..." His voice cracks slightly and he backs up. He shouldn't be afraid of this, still. That man is out of his life now. And yet...

('Do you get prize money?' 'No?' 'No? So then what's it worth? It won't pay the bills, so what good is it?')

Tobias shakes his head, trying to dislodge the haunted look he knows is in his expression. "... I don't know if anyone would want it."

Ryoji senses he hit on a sensitive topic and he backs off immediately. "That's alright," he says quietly, "If it's something you want to do, then you should still try to do it, but I understand being able to feed yourself is probably a bigger priority right now. I don't have a lot myself, but if you need anything you can always ask me." He's a helpful person by nature.

He takes a deep breath. Was it that obvious? "... Yeah. Kind of... just still trying to get a grip on things after... that whole disaster." He could always go back, but he's... not sure he can stay calm with them. Not now.

Ryoji nods. "Traumatic situations do that," he says, "It can take some time. But... I'm sure you'll be alright. It might take some time, but you'll get there." He doesn't know that for sure, nothing about his powers promise that, but he's an optimistic person. And it's not like Tobias is going to die tomorrow, at least.

"... Yeah. She'd want me to keep going, anyway." Because that was what she always did - perservered, despite the odds and despite the opinions of anyone who might think she was wrong.

Ryoji smiles. Whoever the girl was in life, she clearly had a lot of influence on him. That's not a bad thing. It's nice to leave something behind, though he imagines she wouldn't want him to be hurting either. Most good ghosts don't want their loved ones to. ...There are, of course, exceptions. "Well, like I said, I'll keep an eye out for anything. And let me know if I can help at all."

"Yeah, I'll... let you know." He's not sure what he could do to help... it really seems like they have their separate things to take care of. He needs to get back to looking for Strix... but he should start preparing supplies for when it gets colder. "And... sorry again for tricking you."

Ryoji shakes his head. "It's fine. It was kind of necessary to get us to talk like this, so it was worth it." He made a friend! Or... at least someone he can talk to these things about.

"I... yeah. I guess. It's always good to know what kind of people are around." And who you shouldn't piss off... he probably shouldn't piss off someone who works with the dead, huh.

Probably not. Luckily Ryoji's pretty hard to piss off. "Yeah. It was nice to meet you."

"Yeah. Nice meeting you, too." Surprisingly nice, actually. He's had other encounters that didn't go well.

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[Closed] [Nov. 2] world was moving on with you a step behind;

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