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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Ryoji nods. "Yeah. I'm undeclared right now, though... I just started in August." Which kind of feels like forever ago already, honestly. "Are you still in high school?" He looks about that kind of age. But, of course, around here looks can be very, very deceiving.

"I..." To lie, or be honest? He's never been the greatest liar. "Yeah. I don't really like it, though." To be honest, he hasn't gone to school for three years. When everything started, he just... stopped. Things didn't seem important. It's not like they were teaching lessons that really mattered.

The others hung onto school for a while, but everything eventually dragged on them, too. He's not sure if any of them have tried making up classes yet, but it just hasn't seemed important to him at all.

...That was a terrible lie. Does he not go to school at all? He believes the part about not liking it. That's a vast majority of high schoolers, from what he remembers of his own experience. (He liked everything but the classes, personally.) But why lie about it? It's not like Ryoji's someone who could make him go.

And why lie so badly?

"I see," he says, even though he doesn't see at all. "So, how did you find this area?"

"I like exploring. I saw some people taking pictures of old abandoned buildings and I thought I'd get into it." Not that he takes pictures, but sketching them is fun, too. And that part, at least, isn't a lie. He's seen pictures online of some of the worse parts of the buildings... from an architecture standpoint they're pretty interesting.

There's... another reason, too. Another mundane reason. "And I got into parkour... so it's a good challenge. Leaping across gaps where there's nothing to catch you if you fall... it's pretty exciting."

Those are good reasons! And interesting reasons. Ryoji kind of hopes they're true. "Do you take pictures too?" he asks, genuinely curious. Part of what's at least Ryoji's brand of being a Sin-Eater is an enjoyment of life, after all, and he likes hearing about all the little things that bring people joy.

"Wow... that sounds really cool. I kind of want to try it someday, but I'm pretty sure I'd hurt myself... it seems hard!" He would be fine eventually, even if he fell to his death probably, but still. "How'd you learn?"

"I... um. Mostly draw them, actually. The phone I have isn't all that good for pictures." He's still got an awful flip phone, because... well. Why spend money on a burner phone? He's had this one for a bit, but he won't forever. "And I learned by falling. A lot." And then using his Horror's abilities to just scale things once he got absolutely sick of hurting himself.

The buildings around them start to get worse and worse, as they head further into the Sixth. A cat hisses at them, and Tobias sighs. He kind of wishes he could take in a cat, but it just wouldn't work out well with how he moves.

"That's really cool. Do you have anything you've drawn? I'd love to see them, if you're ok with showing them off." Some people are, some people aren't. Ryoji has his guess as to which Tobias might be, but he won't know until he asks.

He keeps an eye on the area around them as it becomes more and more rundown. It's not a surprise, certainly, but it does mean they're going to have to keep their wits more about them. Thanatos is attentive and alert, watching for any death-like activity.

"I have some stuff... I don't usually show it off. It's not like amazingly good or anything, just kind of average..." Still, he's working on it.

As they get close to the warehouse, there... well. There isn't any more death-like activity than one would generally pick up on in an abandoned part of town. It's definitely a place where there used to be activity, but bosses will be bosses, and budget cuts and restructuring and shifting industries will take their toll. The only noticeable death around here is the death of jobs.

They reach the front, and Tobias points up towards the third floor, where there's a window with a large crack in it - close to splitting the glass into pieces. "There. Come on, we can get a better angle if we head in."

"That's still good, though. And if you practice a lot, I'm sure you'll keep getting better." Ryoji is a very optimistic person.

Though, his enthusiasm is dampened somewhat by how... normal the building is. Awww. This is always the risk of following ghost stories, but this seemed so promising! He can almost feel Thanatos sagging a little in disappointment behind him, too. Oh well. They're already here, might as well keep going. And maybe Tobias will make a good friend/ally anyway.

"Alright." Ryoji will follow him into the house. He is clearly not scared in the slightest. If anything, he might be considered a bit put out.

Tobias leads Ryoji in, and then dashes behind him to try to shut the door and turn, facing him. He doesn't like doing things this way, but when he's on his own he doesn't have much of a choice. He's separated from his Brood, and while he did that on purpose...

... It's still lonely. He's still not used to that. "Sorry. I didn't mean to trick you, but I need to ask you questions where no one else can see or hear."

Ah. Well, maybe this won't be so bad then. ...He still kind of wishes there were more death things around, though. "Alright," Ryoji says, and the fact that he is still not visibly worried is probably more confirmation that there's something not normal about him, "Like what questions?"

He's not promising to answer, mind. But he will at least listen.

"... Like what you are. If you even have a word for it." No offense, but he'd like to have a term to associate with this weird ashy taste in his mouth.

Ryoji smiles at him, ignoring Thanatos's rather indignant roar. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours!" he says with a little laugh.

Is. Is this guy flirting with him? His eyes widen slightly - nope nope nope, that is not something he signed up for. It takes a lot to shake him, but flirting is a sure way to throw him off.

... He takes a moment to take a breath. "... Yeah, I guess that's fair. But you first, since I asked first."

Ryoji hums a little, thinking it over. "Alright. I'm a Sin-Eater." You did just ask for the name, but he'll probably elaborate after he gets his answer.

"... Fine. I'm a Beast. What's a Sin-Eater? Something about the dead?" If his... whatever that sense is... is anywhere right. He really should have grabbed something to snack on to wash the taste out of his mouth.

"Good guess!" Ryoji suspects there is more to it than a guess. "I died, and then a geist offered me the chance to come back to life with the condition that he could stick around. What's a Beast?"

"I was dreaming, and then something in my dreams came and devoured my soul and replaced it. I don't know what a geist is, but you probably don't know what a Horror is." He's watching Ryoji carefully. He doesn't know that someone will exactly react well to hearing that they're talking to someone without a human soul.

Yeah, Ryoji really doesn't know what to do with that. He blinks widely at Tobias, trying to figure out how that even works. "...huh," is what he settles on. Yeah, that's the most intelligent thing he's got at the moment. "Well. That's a new one for me." Seriously how does your living... existence, thing even work then? Why is he not seeing weird shenanigans in your life thing, is it only your body that counts?

He has no idea. Honestly, the spiritual mechanics are not something he knows super well. "I mean I'm still... I've still got a human mind. I just have extra stuff I can do now. But is it the same way for you?"

Soul stuff is confusing. And interesting! But mostly confusing. "Kind of. I mean, my soul is still mine too, but Thanatos sticks around and I can do some other things." Thanatos who is grumpy that they're apparently talking to people about this. He might be sulking a little. Or, at least, what Ryoji describes as sulking.

"Thanatos is a... geist?" That's the word he used before, anyway. "Anyway... Beasts usually teach lessons to people... usually in their dreams. Things people have forgotten. Like that they need to look up once in a while."

"Yeah, he is. ...Kind of like a ghost, but more powerful." That's the easier description anyway.

That is also a weirdly specific piece of advice that worries Ryoji a little! "Up?" he asks.

"Huh. I haven't ever met a ghost, honestly. Or if I have, I didn't recognize it." It's not like he'd really be able to know.

"And... yeah. I mean... people don't look up enough. They don't see the dangers that are out there. Sometimes someone needs to remind the that they need to be careful."

"You probably wouldn't be able to see most of them." He clearly can't see Thanatos.

That's... actually a good point, and it's got Ryoji curious. "I see... what other kind of things do you 'teach lessons' about?"

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