the kids cried out ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ sᴛᴏᴘ ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ sᴄᴀʀɪɴɢ ᴍᴇ

[overlies]

Who: makima + 2B + falco
What: catch-all for the month; there is a general open prompt for makima and an open misfire for those who would like to help bathe her dogs. i have closed prompts for the other two and am open to writing starters! hmu for plotting @ my plotting posts or liberos if you'd like to plot specifics. feel free to hit up the inbox links below if you'd like to leave a misfire!
When: november.
Where: etc.

Content Warnings: makima (psychological manipulation + others in general, will add if there's more than that)

Comments

[hearthebell]

[The gliding cut of an orca whale's dorsal fin precedes L's arrival by about thirty seconds. Many people resemble their omens, and this man is not one of them. In stark contrast to his powerful and intimidating omen, L is a spindly and pale man, appearing as though he's on the tail-end of some wasting disease.

While the orca doesn't seem perturbed, the man stiffens at the edge of the scene, because dogs have a way of recognizing human inconsistencies. They know who isn't trustworthy, and he certainly knows that he's not that.]

That's a lot of dogs...

[And in spite of his unease, he can't hate them, because they remind him of that sweet Australian shepherd who was so very representative of his boyfriend.]

[overlies]

[ omens could say a lot about their sleepers without one opening their mouths to explain. it is some sort of representation, whether or not they feel akin to it. an orca whale is quite the eye catcher, for one. a symbol that expanded to respect as much as fear.

makima’s was never around. she is faraway from herself. it had no name, but was too small to even be caught by the eye at times. unless someone was lucky enough to see the beautiful shine of fleeting jade, then perhaps. little would it be a case for her to deal with so soon.

for now, makima had her dogs— real, tangible dogs— and it was more than apparent that they loved her. the straying sleeper visiting the shore only gets their attention when makima offers her’s, raising from her squat. ]

Hello, there!

[ woof!! woof!! woof!! ]

[hearthebell]

[L takes interest in omens when they can be seen. At first, it stands to reason that one of the dogs is probably the strange girl's, but none of the jostling and panting animals shares the same sentient, smoky qualities of an omen. With a twinge, he recalls what had happened to Shoyo's omen just before he'd disappeared back into the sea, but he puts it from his mind in favor of addressing the present and all of its many clamoring needs.]

Hello.

[As painfully awkward and even rude as L can be, he at least tends not to give the impression that it's intentional.]

Have you found all of those in Trench?

[And tamed them already goes unsaid, but strongly implied.]

[overlies]

Oh, no— down, boys.

[ they are quite excited, but not so far out of it that they can’t obey her. the butts are wiggling, and they are so frantic two out of three huskies vocalize their anxiety with whines and yelps that might almost sound like words. there there, now they all get pets for being good! ]

They’re mine, from my home. But they’re a mess, aren’t they? Who’s messy?

[ wooauuuauuuauu!!! ]

[hearthebell]

[He doesn't have difficulty believing it. While not outside the realm of possibility, given the sorts of abilities people show up with in Trench, it seems like this kind of obedience and devotion can only be achieved by raising them from pups.]

Mud and autumn go hand-in-hand in Trench. It's to be expected.

[He pauses, as if wondering whether he should mention this when they're all having so much fun. He's almost naturally a buzzkill, though.]

It's best to avoid the seawater, generally speaking. It contains very high levels of corruption.

[overlies]

Thank you for your concern.

[ cut sweetly and to the very point of it; she doesn't plan on going in the water, and the dogs won't be going back any time soon either now that she has her hands on them. pausing briefly to get back up, she gives them one word to obey: ]

Heel. [ and all three of them perk their triangle ears up and stare expectantly at their owner, trunks by her legs and possibly even competing in terms of who gets to stay closer to her. they earn their rewards with a pat each on the head. ] But I won't be swimming. They need a bath.

[hearthebell]

Have you met anyone in Trench that you know? Aside from your dogs.

[He sidles a little closer, still nervous around the canines; in his experience they are extra good at sussing out people who're shifty by nature, which he certainly is.

The question is one he asks often, trying to establish a fast-and-dirty statistic for how likely it is to meet someone who is not only from your world, but your general social circle. The trend seems hard to ignore when almost everyone L's met knows at least someone from "home".

Not only that, it's useful information for a detective in this city to have, if it's given freely in a friendly way.]

[overlies]

Hmm— No.

[ it didn't take too long to cut that thoughtfulness off. she's rather certain of it. ]

I'm sure I could tell at some point too, with the nose I've got.

[hearthebell]

Your nose is particularly good, then? I wish I could say the same; mine might be subpar.

[L's sense of smell is probably perfectly average for a human's. That being said, he's learned to use the perception of vulnerability to his advantage.]

What do you smell?

[overlies]

Interesting fellows.

[ which isn’t exactly helpful, but with a few whiffs— ]

And something sweet.

[hearthebell]

Well. If that's so, then it might be my fault.

[L's probably not flirting. If he is, it's in that hapless way that follows coincidentally eating a lot of donuts earlier.]

[overlies]

In both ways, or just being sweet?

[ hard same in the fact that makima never truly flirts with anyone— this is just a play at being human. ]

[hearthebell]

I'm always sweet. That can't be a deciding factor.

[He's giving himself a lot of credit figuratively, and probably not enough literally.]

[overlies]

[ she quite enjoys cleverness! ]

I'll consider 'interesting', then.

[hearthebell]

Well, in truth I'm only interesting when I'm really trying.

But that's not the case for you, is it? It's a burden, you know, to be interesting all the time. People won't leave you alone.

[overlies]

[ he hits too close to bull's eye on a personal level for her. it makes her sour inside, the reminder of her nonexistent childhood and lack of peace when it came to work. just work, work, work. report to the big guys.

it came to be a pain. she carries it with a smile anyway. ]

I'll say, [ her dogs give her attention, paw and lick at her hands. she coos to them and rewards with scruffy little grabs over their heads and ears. oh, they're so cute. even when they're messy. ] I can't remember the last time I had a meal in peace, back home . . .

[ they start to get a little excited, just look at the tail fans! and the slurpies! ]

Yesh, you give Mommy kisses, now down, down— [ makima sighs, ] I owe it all to Trench for giving me a vacation from work.

[hearthebell]

Trench isn't so bad, that way.

[His experience isn't dissimilar. He's had the opportunity, as a lifelong workaholic, to actually slack off a little. Sometimes Trench itself even provides excuses in the form of external factors too upheaving to ignore.

Lycka seems to tilt beside L, watching the dogs with interest and curiosity.]

You're one to cherish the "dull" moments, then, recognizing the subjective nature of novelty?

[overlies]

That I am.

[ . . . to an extent. truly dull moments have nothing special to them but being purposeless and a waste of time and space. ]

But I take a stand where bad movies are concerned.