And if I need a rhythm

[expertonshutters]

Who: Hayato and YOU
What: Open Prompts around Trench
When: The month of February
Where: Willful Machine, The Raccoon Room, Trench city streets.

Content Warnings: Possible event warnings, which will be updated if it happens.



[Prompt 1: Willful Machine]

[Hayato was nothing if not adaptable. He’s lived a preposterously strange and dangerous life and if he was good and stuck here, then he had to make the best of it while he tried to understand his situation better. He was a people person, despite the often solitary life he had to live, and he found he did his best work immersing himself in the people around him. Trench was an endlessly fascinating, if baffling, city, and the people here were equally curious.]

[He’s spent plenty of time flagging down Sleepers for information, so this time he’s focusing a little on the locals. They’re friendly and more than willing to speak to him, which is nice, though a little strange. There’s a weird irreverence for Sleepers from the locals — Trenchies — and he’s not sure what to make of that.]

[For now he can be found speaking to a family just outside a clothing shop. It seems they’re explaining to him a bit about the philosophies of practical vs indulgent, and Hayato is listening with rapt attention. After a moment he asks for a picture, and delighted, the Trenchies oblige.]

[He steps back with his camera.]

Alright now. Say squid legs!

[The kids laugh, and Hayato snaps the photo. Pleased, he stands up and offers them a small card.]

Thanks a bunch for speaking with me. Once I’ve got the means to develop these, I’ll send you a copy, yeah?

[Looks like he’s free now.]



[Prompt 2: Raccoon Room]

[Hayato’s been popping in and out of places around town to get a feel for the atmosphere. He’s seen a lot of interesting places! Lot’s of nightlife it seems like. It doesn’t take him long to stumble onto the Raccoon Room, which he finds out quickly is Sleeper run and owned. That was interesting.]

[Liking the vibe, Hayato finds himself a booth to sit at with a drink. It’s quieter in here for the moment, and so Hayato has his camera, a notebook, and some scattered papers he seems to be pouring over while he looks up occasionally to people watch, or take in any performance that might be happening on stage. You’d think someone wouldn’t be able to get any work done with the noise of a place like this, but it doesn’t seem to be bothering him any.]

[A fresh face with a unique sense of fashion, so clearly he is prime bothering material.]



[Prompt 3: He came with the storm]

[Beasts. This is what Anna had told him about. He sees now- they’re oddly far more grotesque than some of the monsters he’s had to fight, and yet, there is something sadder about it. These beasts were feral and vicious, but didn’t appear to be even remotely conscious of themselves.]

[It wasn’t like Shocker, or even Badan. Brainwashed monsters who spoke and acted with purpose. No …there was nothing like that in these Beasts, and so, the kindest thing to be done would be to put them down. He didn’t intend to take up the mantle of Hunter, but if he were in the right place at the right time, he wouldn’t turn his back on those who needed help.]

[And so, perhaps you are one of two options: 1. You happened to be in need of saving when the Beast came from the shadows with a roar. Or 2. You were already on the scene with the Beast and looked like you could use some help. Either way someone is in danger and back up has arrived in the dorm of a masked, armored figure.]

[A masked armored figure that greets the roar of the Beast by clocking it in the face and sending it hitting the ground with a bounce.]

Stay on your guard!

Comments

Closed starters

[expertonshutters]

Break [Closed] cw: self injury, fingernails

[expertonshutters]

[It’s hard to figure out when it started exactly. With the rush of arrival, and Hayato desperately trying to get his footing in this strange world, it’s no surprise that something of the place’s nature found it’s way under his skin before he can catch it. After all, what reference does he have for the horrors this place likes to throw at you?]

[He’s used to dealing with miserable, bleak circumstances. He’s trudged his way through living hell after living hell. That didn’t mean he had a clue how to handle just how deep this place could sink it’s claws into a person.]

[Hayato hadn’t felt pain in fifteen years. Hayato hadn’t felt much of anything in all that time, and thus had to live with an unfeeling, artificial body while navigating the world, pretending to be human on one side, while fighting an endless war on the other. He was not prepared for this place to hand him back the things he lost, while making it its own unique hell. He did not know how to cope with the fact that having these things back would be worse than the existence he’s forced himself to accept after all these years.]

[And yet, he made himself carry on. He had not choice but to endure, as he always did. He did not have his partner to rely or confide in. He was alone here as far as he could tell, and he could not afford to falter, to fall apart.]

[It worked for a little while. He even tried to revel in it, this novel concept called pain. Eventually it became too much for him and he caved to the impulse that haunted him for days now. He stops at the edge of a street, in a district he’s unfamiliar with, and presses his fingers into the skin on his left arm until blood wells up and the skin splits apart. With a muffled scream, he digs deeper, deeper until-]

[payingfordeliverance]

[This place has been putting one Xerxes Break through the ringer this month, too. So far, everything has resolved itself just fine -- and, in fact, things seem to be ending up better than they were before. But the experiences he's having are terribly emotional in nature, and going through them so quickly has left him exhausted. On top of that, his aches and pains are terrible again this month, and he's been struggling here and there to keep his eyesight intact. The show must go on and the incense must be replenished and that's why Break is out on a shopping excursion now, but he is looking forward to getting back home, settling into his favorite pajamas, and lounging around in bed with a book.

So naturally a scream attracts his attention, and here we have a guy looking fit to claw his own arm off for some godforsaken reason.

He can't even be bothered to be properly annoyed about it. For one thing, the recent resurgence of his own perception of himself as a knight is still fresh in his head, so it's not like stopping to help is even a question. For another, underneath being a little high on his own honor code, Break has been well aware for a long while that his own time in Trench is as tolerable as it is only because there have always been people around ready to help him without question, even when he was a perfect stranger. Paying that forward feels more like a duty than it doesn't, and the sort of duty that feels more like a privilege than an obligation.]

Ah -- hey, hey. None of that, come on.

[Break isn't anywhere near stupid enough to get too close to someone in enough distress to hurt themselves without calling out first, and gently, at that. He's been on the other side of this, and still remembers lashing out despite himself when Reim -- only a child at the time -- had made precisely that mistake. His omen has no such issue, being made of smoke and shadow and thus impossible to hurt. Hayato will be treated to a large and noodley dog creature with glowing white eyes slinking up to him, stopping just short of sticking his emotional support snoot right up on him. If this guy is of a mind to strike, Baltus will simply waft away, and Break can react accordingly.]

[expertonshutters]

[A floral smell, tinged metallic, is pungent in the alley near Hayato. There’s a faint hiss that accompanies it, as Hayato continues to drag his fingers into his arm, it’s the sound of something burning- like water spilled on a hot pan. The blood is splattering indiscriminately on the ground under him. By the volume of it, he’s really torn his arm open.]

What- What is it?

[His voice is hysteric, almost. Pained, but not as pained is it maybe should be. There is something much more disbelieving and desperate about it, instead. He looks up wildly, first at Bantus, but then at Break.]

What’s this blood? I shouldn’t- I shouldn’t feel this pain!

[payingfordeliverance]

[Perhaps you wouldn't feel any pain if you would refrain from trying to claw your own arm off, Break thinks and does not say.]

This place alters us all. My own blood is glitter, these days. [He offers this little tidbit instead, helpfully. But he remains where he is. Vileblood gives him even more reason not to draw too close just yet.] I see yours is the poisonous kind. Mm -- come and sit with me a while, won't you? We'll have a nice talk.

[He keeps his own tone smooth and serene in the face of the stranger's panic, and doesn't make any sudden movements. He's channeling Lady Shelly here, trying to act in the same ways she did when she was comforting him, during a time in his life when he was far less domesticated than he is now. Back in those days, just what she'd had to say hadn't mattered nearly so much as how she said it. She could tell him all sorts of ridiculous nonsense and it still made him feel better than before, if she said it as though there were no need to fuss.]

[expertonshutters]

[Though the pain was …indescribable, there’s a dull, visceral way that the more he bleeds, the more he feels some of that …pressure under his skin, ease. It gives him a moment of clarity as he looks at Break again, and seems to actually see him this time.]

[His way of speaking is effective, in that Hayato barely heard any of it, but the disarming way he spoke did not set him off all over again. He holds his arm, somewhat uselessly as it continues to bleed. That sizzling sound continues, but it doesn’t seem to be coming from his skin, rather something underneath.]

…Talk?

[He takes a deep breath.]

Yeah. Okay.

[payingfordeliverance]

[For all that he's been here half a year, Break still has problems discerning whether the nonsense he deals with at any given time is Trench's nonsense or his own. So much of what it puts him through is just close enough to his natural state as to be indiscernible until it suddenly clears up just after midnight at the end of the month, and given that nothing happening so far this month is overtly noticeable to him -- in January, for instance, it was easy to see Trench's influence when every single darkblood he knew was suddenly extra friendly -- he hasn't picked up on anything yet that is less blatant than literally catching on fire over people he likes.

That is to say, the punchline here is that Break is also in pain these days, also restless and itchy under his skin and looking for ill-advised ways to ease the growing need to climb the walls.

He thinks it is stress.]

Come along, then. There's a nice little park just here where we can sit. I chat with the ravens there, sometimes.

[Which is to say, this is Trench, and the "nice little park" looks like a graveyard nobody bothered to bury anyone in after it had been rendered appropriately gothic otherwise and his chats with the ravens are mostly cussing together over crackers. It's fine. Break, who has absolutely nothing wrong with him in multiple ways, will take this guy who clearly does have something wrong with him and explain the Trench nonsense that Break is definitely not suffering from himself and then everyone will feel better.

Baltus lingers by Hayato's side, being generically sturdy and dog-like.]

Prompt 3

[frogiturgy]

[Oh, fuck.

Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck!

Perell was not equipped for a fight in any sense of the word. His body was not trained to deal with this kind of thing, and as a Warmblood without access to the Thaumic Energies he was familiar with--

There was nothing he could do but run.

Lockjoint had become an unfortunate companion over the course of the last month, and it hindered Perell's movement enough that he went flying into the mud and muck when his foot snagged on something unseen. A yelp accompanied his fall, and he was preparing for his doom.



Which never came.

Blinking up at his rescuer, Perell.... had no idea what he was looking at when he scrambled back onto his feet.]

-Right.

[He grumbled, with an irritable huff as he shook the muck off his glasses. Already he was looking around for places to hide or ways to cause a distraction.]

You don't need to tell me twice.

[...

He was getting too old for this.]

[expertonshutters]

[…Oh hey, he recognized this person. That “Don’t have to tell me twice” rang very familiar. Perell might make out a faint chuckle as the figure shifts his stance, ready for the beast to regroup.]

I can handle this, just find somewhere safe until it’s over!

[He suspected Perell was way ahead of him, but it didn’t hurt to reiterate. As the beast gets back to its feet, Kamen Rider darts off towards it. Weaving under blows, the masked figure manages to get up under what might pass for an arm. With a practiced motion, the beast gets slammed into the ground.]

[Which is great until the thing’s great tail manages to clothesline him into a dumpster in retaliation. Whoops.]

[frogiturgy]

[Whoops indeed.

Perell winced sympathetically was the masked hero was slammed into a dumpster. He was himself hiding under a picnic table not too far away. Without a means if proper fighting, he didn't plan to engage directly-- or, at all-- but he couldn't just allow that stranger to be mauled by the creature.

A quick search revealed a sizeable rock amongst the debris. Perell made a grab for it-- and threw it in the opposite direction from them. ]

[expertonshutters]

[The sound catches the beast’s attention, and it’s the opening Kamen Rider needs. He grabs the thing by the tail, wrenches himself free of the crumpled dumpster, and then swings the monster into the dumpster, instead.]

[Karma, and all that.]

[Anyway, that gives him an opening for a final blow, which he will take by leaping straight up into the air and then coming down hard on the creature with a good old fashioned Rider Kick. It’s pretty done for.]

[frogiturgy]

[Were Perell a less prickly sort, he may have burst out clapping at the incredibly display. Instead, his analytical mean stalled him and left him staring agape at the airborne kick]

What--

What the heck was that?!

i fuckin lost this tag im sorry

[expertonshutters]

[You ever see a beast fucking explode? Now you have. The man lands on his feet, and steps away from the remains to face the man he saved.]

Hm? The beast? The city's full of them.

[He's not sure what else he could mean.]

Nevermind that, are you injured?

1

[dokoyou]

[ This land has put Kokomi in an awkward position. On one hand, she is no longer a Divine Priestess, and has been advised by fellow Sleepers that it's actually okay for her to directly ask people for help. On the other hand, old habits die hard.

She watches this man talk to the Citizens and wow, she wishes she has even a fraction of his social skills. She is also a little curious about his skills with the kamera(?).

Alright, she's going to do it! She, without the help of anyone from her temple, will try to talk to a stranger and ask for help! ]

Excuse me. [ Oh no, what is she supposed to ask. Help, how do you talk to people? Watatsumi Omikami please. Her face is calm but her heart is not. ] Do you mind if I asked you a few questions?

[ Buying yourself some time is also a kind of strategy. ]

[expertonshutters]

[Hayato turns at the sound of being addressed. With a curious expression, he spots Kokomi, and then offers her a friendly smile.]

Hm? Sure!

[And then his expression is a bit apologetic.]

I’m a bit of a newcomer, though, so I might not be able to tell you a lot, but I’ll do my best to help.

[dokoyou]

[ Oh no, why does he look like he's about to apologize. Did she do something wrong? Did she accidentally flex her position again? She has no position here, it shouldn't be that! ]

I would like you to-- [ no, that sounds like she's imposing her will on someone, let her re-structure that sentence ] Could you teach me how to better converse with people?

[ And she adds, almost shamefully ] There is a need for me to re-evaluate my approach when it comes to communicating with others.

[expertonshutters]

[You know, whatever question she had for him, it’s clear he wasn’t expecting what she actually asks. He looks surprised, for a moment, but he’s quick to offer her a smile.]

I see!

[She carried herself a bit like someone used to being strictly formal with others. Someone born of high status, perhaps? Someone with a strict upbringing. Or someone who has worked a very formal position.]

Sure, why don’t we find somewhere to chat.

[There’s probably a tea shop around here somewhere they can sit down at. While Hayato wouldn’t think of himself necessarily qualified to teach something like this, he is someone who is used to engaging with people, so maybe he could help her a little.]

Ichimonji Hayato, nice to meet you.

[dokoyou]

[ All of the above. It's all of the above, Hayato.

She follows him to the tea shop, smoothing her skirt before sitting down, her legs daintily angled to the side. ]

I am Sangonomiya Kokomi. It is a pleasure to meet you, Hayato.

[ What follows is awkward silence as Kokomi worries about what to say next. She scans the menu and then worries about what she should order. Surely he wouldn't be influenced by her preferences, would he? If she ordered whatever's closet to birds egg sushi, he wouldn't be compelled to get the same? ]

Is there anything that you want? Please, let me treat you.

[expertonshutters]

[He doesn’t immediately break the silence, because, well. If she’s trying to get tips on how to talk to people, he wanted to see just what exactly he was working with here.]

[He looks his menu over casually and debates her offer. He thinks, since this is a place founded on bartering, a cup of tea in exchange for advice sounds fair enough.]

A pot of black tea, then, if you insist.

3

[expiera]

[The warning shout causes the figure previously engaged with the Beast to quickly dart back like a retreating black cat, it then seems to disappear into the darkness of the poorly lit back alley. The masked individual and the mindless creature it just knocked out cold on the ground are now left alone, and for a beat, the night is quiet again. A dynamic entry immediately followed by a stealth exit...?

The silence is short-lived, however, as blurs of movement may be noted from atop the roofs of buildings nearby, accompanied by hisses that sounded none too pleased.]

...Please watch your volume. They hunt in packs and have sensitive hearing.

[The quiet, calm, and faintly chiding voice comes from behind him, its source a robed female figure with short hair who has her back to him. When did she get there? Though that voice may sound familiar too, come to think of it...?]

[expertonshutters]

[That voice does sound familiar, and he passes a glance towards the other person with some brief interest. It doesn’t last long, as he’s not willing to let his guard down. The sounds above them of the rest of the creatures are far more concerning.]

[She gets a nod in reply, and there’s a shift in his stance as he gets ready for another attack. With one of their own felled, it’s likely they’ll have more to contend with, and he’s not about to ignore her advice.]

[Besides, if that is who he thinks it is, then it probably won’t take a lot for her to catch the sound of his voice. He’ll keep quiet for now.]

[It seems like the beasts are circling them along the roof tops, sizing up the two of them before one of them finally lunges forward.]

[expiera]

[The newcomer on the scene learns and adapts quickly, she recognizes that much. Whatever they may have to say can wait until after, and if they can keep up the way they fought just now, it shouldn't take very long to deal with this anyhow.

As the beasts circle, the robed woman closes in too without turning to face him. She doesn't make it all the way, just enough so that they got each other's backs covered without leaving any room for the beasts to break in-between. No words are needed; if he already understood the situation, then there's also no need to communicate a thing about the most practical formation.

The first attempt is made on her end. There's a quiet murmur of a word he may just be close enough to barely catch, followed by a faint flash and a cracking sound in the air. Then, a pained yelp and a soft thud; the beast doesn't manage to complete its lunge, intercepted by an arc of lightning powerful enough to knock it off-course and paralyze it whole. Incapacitated, it does not move again.

Two down already, and the bipedal nuisances on the ground don't look the least bit winded. There's no blind spot they can exploit, either; it has some beasts lower their heads and snarl in contempt, while a few others still in their attempt to get any closer. Any sign of uncertainty or dissent is eliminated when a chilling bark resounds through the alley, however, its source a beast almost twice the size of the two rendered unconscious glaring down at them from the roof of the tallest building in their immediate vicinity. The pack has a leader, evidently, and it doesn't look keen on retreat.

Then, as if they've all received the order, the rest also adopt a formation of their own, around at least half a dozen circling them and preparing to strike in unison. They may not be intelligent, but they are extremely fierce, vicious, and know how to hunt, having honed the art of biting and clawing out lives throughout generations. This may require a bit more planning...]

Can you handle it?

[His half, that is. There's less merit in trying to keep it down, now that they seem to have already attracted every member of the pack out for blood tonight.]

[expertonshutters]

[She can hold her own. Good, that’s what he wanted to know. Whatever means of fighting she has, she’s clearly good at it and not a stranger to fighting in this way. That’s enough for him to trust her with his back.]

[As they begin to close in on them, he falls easily into a stance of someone who’s well-trained and accustomed to battle.]

Yes.

[It’s said with a confidence that completely lacks arrogance. He’s fought much worse on his own and these creatures will not be what puts him down for good, after everything he’s been through. There may be a lot, but he’s more than up to the task, even knowing there is a leader somewhere further up, calling the shots of the pack.]

[As they make their move, it should be clear to her at least, that he is used to fighting with another, and watching her back is as seamless as the way he utilities his body as a weapon. Practiced, deadly martial arts that have been powered by whatever gives him his uncanny strength and speed. He manipulates their environment to his advantage and does not stop or slow down when he takes hits. He fights ruthlessly, with the purpose of ending the fight as quickly as possible.]

[He’s focused until the very end, unless his partner finds herself in trouble. Only then would he break his concentration to come to her side. If not, then they probably get through this mob swiftly and efficiently.]

[expiera]

[The hunters become the hunted... Though that may not be a fair statement to make, with how little they seemed to move when the beasts have done all the work in closing in on their own for them. Numbers can only make up so much, and faced against two highly competent fighters endowed with superhuman ability, maybe this was the only possible outcome to begin with. Whether it was martial arts, magic, or else, it doesn't take long for the alley to fall silent again, now littered with various bodies of beasts that are no longer moving. The larger one spotted earlier does not appear to figure among the numbers on the ground, but given how quiet things have gotten, maybe it was smart enough to retreat after all.

Yet silent as things may be now, quite a bit has been shown and proven: neither of them are stranger to fighting, they can more than pull their weight, and favour efficient dispatch that hinted at obligation over any sense of enjoyment derived from combat. She's tried on her end to avoid injuring the beasts as to not have their blood run freely too, though it's not immediately clear if he may have taken similar steps to minimize blood pollution. Beast blood's pungent odor would give it away sooner or later, but in the meanwhile, there's no longer any threat in their immediate vicinity.

With a quiet exhale, the woman finally turns to face the masked and armoured figure. She hasn't had the chance to get a good look at the unexpected help she's received tonight just yet, and while the voice sounded masculine, there's the possibility that some kind of voice changer may be at work. The armour plate appears male though, upon closer inspection, and that voice did sound vaguely familiar. Where had she heard it...?

She seems to be sizing him up, in any case, maintaining the silence with a neutral expression that doesn't betray any emotion. He did crash the scene unprompted, maybe he should be the one to say something about that first?]

[expertonshutters]

[The masked figure pauses a moment, as silence falls around them. He’s listening to make sure that larger one is truly gone before he’s willing to relax. His hearing is extremely sharp so he’d know if it planned to sneak up on them. After a moment of nothing, his shoulders drop the smallest bit and he turns to look at his partner-in-crime.]

[…]

[Oh shit, is that Ciel??????]

[It’s a good thing he wears a full facial mask because the look on his face would be pretty funny! Luckily he keeps his reaction incredibly minimal and he debates for a few worried moments how to respond. In the end, the silence drags on just a moment too long before he speaks up. His voice is pitched just a little deeper but if Ciel is a perceptive person, she might still catch him.]

I think that was all of them. Have you sustained any injuries?