vatheon | > First Stop: Slippery when wet

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> First Stop: Slippery when wet

Who: Shinjiro and You
Where: Wandering confused in the plaza
When: July 29th
Style: Starting with prose but feel free to switch to action and I will match up
Status: Open!

Had to be the drugs.

At least that's what he told himself as he continued to walk, his shoes making noise from the water buildup. His hat did little to protect him from the pouring rain, and his hair was already stuck around his neck. His coat was in no better shape and he grunted as he idly put his hands in his pockets, walking along confused. The coat hid his hospital outfit well...considering upon waking up, Shinjiro had remembered the promise they had made, and his first thought wasn't to get properly dressed, but to grab what he could from his room and make a dash for the school.

...only to end up here. Really, it had to be the drugs. He'd managed to catch a date on his way out, and he knew it had been a while. Maybe painkillers with a a side effect. Who the hell knew. But he'd certainly wake up any minute now.

Strange how it felt so real...he looked up to the sky before sighing.

"Tch. Think I'd be done with dreaming after so long..."

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[Katsu heads out to the plaza, towel in hand. It's that time of the month, after all. A brochure is tucked in his pocket - he can get the rest of the stuff for the welcome kit as needed.]

[Thus, when he spots Shinjiro, he heads over and hands him a white fluffy towel.]

You're not dreaming, sorry. Welcome to Vatheon.

Minako had certainly been aware from the start that this wasn't a place where the ordinary rules applied entirely. Here she was, dead or missing or away as she should be; and here were many of the people she'd feared missing so much, too. And then there was the whole business with her new "twin".

She'd been strolling all around the place during the daytime ever since she'd gotten here, and seen others come in, too, reassuring her that she was at least hardly alone. Today she was lost a bit in her thoughts, trying to decide exactly what she needed to do here, trying to decide how she should feel about the unexpected detour.

Actually, she'd stopped entirely noticing her surroundings as she got deeper into her conundrum, just skirting the edge of the plaza, staring down at her feet, absently rubbing a spot on her lower back where she'd finally found her new tattoo.

[Okay step one - take the towel without so much as a thanks from a random stranger. Usually he wouldn't even bother, but considering he has no idea where he is, and if he's still dreaming...of course they'd tell him he's not dreaming. Had a few dreams like that in the hospital, actually.]

Who're you?

[His voice is full of distrust. For all he knows you're just a fragment of his imagination.]

Edited 2012-07-30 04:30 (UTC)

When Akihiko first arrived in Vatheon, he was approached by a girl who told him that the coral was so powerful it could bring the dead back to life here. He couldn't believe it.

Now, as he idly scrolls through the contact list on his SFC while nursing his injury, he recalls that encounter. Why? There is a name on the list that makes him do a double-take.

He scrolls up and down a few times, then squints to make sure he's reading the name right.

Hand shaking, he dials the new number.

My name's Katsu Aoki. This is going to sound weird, but you're stuck here, at least for a while.

[He hands Shinjiro a brochure once he's dried off a bit.]

If you have any questions, I'll try to answer them as best I can. I've been here for a while.

The girl in his dreams.

Every since he'd been in the hospital comatose and ignorant of the outside world advancing without him, he'd been plagued of a girl. Sometimes she'd show up halfway in a dream, other times, she'd just laugh and disappear when he looked again. He knew her. He definitely knew her, but never get her name right. Wherever he thought he had the answer, she she would grin, or hold his hand and cry before disappearing just before he could. Yet he'd stubbornly continued to march in the mists of his mind until, one day, he'd been able to say it, finally leading to him waking up, covered in tubes and machines.

"Minako Arisato."

Had he said that out loud? Wasn't sure. Hell, this might just still be a dream. Idly, as if this would somehow give him a straight answer, he pinched himself and--OW.

Slowly...he ended up walking towards her, half expecting the field leader to burst into a cloud of smoke, unable to say her name again as if it was now taboo to do so. However Minako might notice the shadow creeping up behind her. Shinji wasn't exactly good about sneaking.

The last thing Shinjiro expected was his phone to start ringing. Wait...he had a phone? Tentively, he took out of his pocket and stared at it for a second as it rang a second time. The hell was this red little starfish design with an angry face on it? By now he had figured out he wasn't dreaming, just gone into some sort of weird-ass rabbit hole that he couldn't leave. Just his luck. That didn't quite give him the answer of who had this number, however.

Third ring. Only one way to find out. He opened it up and took the call.

...somehow he should have expected Aki here too. He didn't even have to wonder if he'd visited him at the hospital during his stay. Still, it would have been unlike him to have acknowledge that. He wasn't going to bother him with much of a hello either, just shake his head in annoyance, even if there was a small smile on his lips. Very tiny.

"Figures it'd be you. Tch. Can't leave me alone for even a few minutes can you?"

If only he knew.

...Right.

[Great. Stuck here. He takes the brochure (also without saying so much as a thank you) and starts to read it.]

Vatheon huh...still no idea why anyone's been brought up here?

[Hey look! Conversation!]

No, sorry.

[He rubs the back of his neck, a little embarrassed. They're still no closer to figuring out the mystery of this place... and a lot of them seemed to have just stopped trying.]

Sometimes people go home... we don't know how or why, though. But it's nice enough here while you're gone, and time's stopped in your world while you're here, anyway.

[He's listening but not answer until he gets to a part--]

Wait. We've got a mark? The hell...

[He looks at his hands, but nothing.]

Yep.

[He pulls down the collar of his shirt, his mark a little visible on his right shoulder.]

It's not always in a really convenient place.

This was just the sort of response he would expect to get. Akihiko's smile is a lot more obvious. Seeing him there -- moving, speaking, breathing -- makes him forget about his own problems. He tries to stand up, but yelps in pain and settles back down on the couch.

"Try a few weeks. Wh-why can't you think of someone else for a change?"

It was really hard to keep cool. He wondered if this was just a dirty trick to get his hopes up.

He doesn't even bother to answer him about how long he's been there because the minute he had yelped in pain, Shinji's expression has gone right back to passive (worry). The gears are already turning in his head. If he's talking about weeks and he's injured that wasn't something from when he arrived...

"The hell's happened to you?" If you listen hard enough, he might almost sound worried there.

"I'm fine." It's just like the broken ribs; it'll heal eventually. Right? Either way, Akihiko feels that he should be the one doing the worrying right now.

"It's good that you're here," Actually, it's great. Because you're alive. "but you need to be careful."

[He'd need to look his up them. Privately.]

Tch. Figures...[He continues to read again...] This is such bullshit...

"Bullshit. You're not." You were talking with Mr.Worrywart himself, he could tell about those things. Also you had yelped. He sighs and shakes his head. You were such an idiot, Aki. ~~And you were such a hypocrite, Shinji.~~

"Tch. Lemme find some clothing first, I've still got my hospital robes under the coat." Wait what did he mean by that. He needed to be careful? "Already got the brochure from your welcoming committee. I know about the curses. Unless it's something else?"

Edited 2012-07-30 06:59 (UTC)

It had been treated. But Akihiko's being Akihiko, so it's taking longer than it should.

Hospital robes? Akihiko's sudden confusion is obvious. Shinjiro'd been declared dead the moment they dragged him there. Even before the official call, Akihiko knew. There was no way he could be saved. Maybe it had something to do with how the dead arrived in Vatheon.

"...Strega. Their leader is here somewhere."

A reaction that doesn't escape Shinjiro's usual observations, but he chooses to remain quiet about that for now, considering the weight of what he just said.

"...Takaya." The word is said with a strong dose of vitriol. He looks down to where he was shot, the robes making it easy once he's opened his coat and...

"Damnit..."

So that's where his symbol was. Of course. Aki doesn't see anything, just Shinji's head going downwards for a second, before he snaps it right back up.

"Is he armed?"

"Yeah." Akihiko swallows as he watches Shinjiro look down at where the fatal shots left their mark, guilt returning to creep on him. He was doing well ignoring it, but he had yet to put it behind him. It's even harder now that Shinjiro's here, for some strange reason.

He quietly nods in response to his question. Most definitely armed. He would know...

"You need to come here now." He's not losing him a second time.

Mitsuru had taken to walking around the plaza during the day, as per her duty as the leader of the Amusement Quarter in the Defense Force. Mainly because sometimes, she stumbled upon new arrivals and often, it felt good to help them back on their feet and get them used to their new surroundings.

"..."

She tilts her head upon seeing someone very familiar.

"Shinji?"

"..." Great. Takaya is armed, and here he is, not even having a proper shirt nor a pair of pants, only an angry starfish phone. Shinjiro knows when he's outmatched...at least for now. He looks around to make sure the other isn't around, considering everything that's been happening so far. With the events so far, he half-expects Takaya to bolt out of an alley or from the sky, really.

"Alright. Where's this 'here' exactly?" He was new, after all. There are actually a lot more questions he wants to ask, but he'll wait until they can see each other eye to eye.

Edited 2012-08-01 05:12 (UTC)

"..." He stops walking and looks at her., his hands still in his pockets, still without proper clothing under that huge coat of his. He hadn't seen Mitsuru since the incident, but considering what had happened so far, he didn't seem as surprised finding her as he should be. Not to mention he knew all to well what she might say next.

"...If you're gonna lecture me about what happened, save it."

Hi.

In a completely shameless show of emotion from Mitsuru, she ran over and threw her arms around Shinji. And she was... sobbing? Quite possibly, or what passed for sobbing from Mitsuru would be considered silent tears from anybody else. First Akihiko coming back, then Takaya, now Shinji's back from the dead.

"You're alive." she said as she grasped him tightly. "You're alive."

What. What what what what what---Shinji had seen many things so far in his short life. Shadows, Tatarus, Dark Hour...yet Mitsuru breaking down was not one of them. Physical contact of any sort wasn't either. The two combined....a near improbability, especially when she knew he was wasn't...

"H-hey!---Nrggh let---" Damn she was holding on pretty tight and he wasn't going to accidentally hurt her by attempting to push her away (only Aki got that treatment). "What's gotten into you?" Seriously, there was a very audible ounce of worry in there. This wasn't you at all.

Pretty much. You get used to it, though. It gets easier the longer you're here. I've been here for over a year - there's people who have been here much longer.

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> First Stop: Slippery when wet

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