expertonshutters: (my hive of skin and chrome)
Ichimonji Hayato | Kamen Rider 2 ([personal profile] expertonshutters) wrote in [community profile] deercountry2022-02-07 11:17 am

And if I need a rhythm

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!
payingfordeliverance: (Pensive: Over my shoulder)

[personal profile] payingfordeliverance 2022-02-12 02:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[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.]
Edited (fucking html) 2022-02-12 14:44 (UTC)
payingfordeliverance: (Pensive: Judging)

[personal profile] payingfordeliverance 2022-02-12 05:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[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.]
payingfordeliverance: (Smile: A tender moment)

[personal profile] payingfordeliverance 2022-02-12 10:18 pm (UTC)(link)
[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.]
payingfordeliverance: (Smile: Nothing for it)

[personal profile] payingfordeliverance 2022-02-13 11:58 am (UTC)(link)
[The spooky move Break makes is to aim straight for his favorite spooky bench and clamber up onto it, settling in with his bum on the back and his feet on the seat. He leans down to give the bench a pat, indicating that Hayato should join him here, but moves on as soon as he does it whether the other man comes over or not. That's not the important bit here.]

Now. [His tone remains pleasant and calm, but becomes more businesslike.] Am I correct in assuming you've only recently arrived in this foul-weathered hellhole?
Edited (I forgot an icon) 2022-02-13 11:58 (UTC)
payingfordeliverance: (Smile: Really now?)

[personal profile] payingfordeliverance 2022-02-17 07:03 pm (UTC)(link)
If you've woken in places strange enough to compete in the past, you must come from a wild world indeed.

[This is a passing comment, not a judgement. Absently, he wonders whether this guy will turn out to be one of the ones who doesn't appreciate the place at all, or one who actually finds Trench to be an improvement, despite its faults. The majority of those he meets here are the latter and Break himself is decidedly the former, even as Trench slowly gets its claws into him. Because of that he can't help but think of people in those categories.

Baltus trots off to do a circuit around the park, making sure there's nothing weird hiding out in it for the moment. Break watches the stranger, with a look on his face that is cunning, but not unkind.]


A few weeks is long enough to pick up a great deal. Then, why don't you tell me what you know about the place so far, and I'll fill in the blanks as best I can?
payingfordeliverance: (Pensive: The last thing you'll ever see)

[personal profile] payingfordeliverance 2022-02-18 01:38 am (UTC)(link)
[Well. Those are the basics, certainly. And yet, it's so very little, in the grand scheme of things. No wonder this guy was having such a moment back there. Break doesn't need much by way of personal context to know that Trench's antics can get to most anyone, if you don't know what's happening or why.]

...my understanding is that -- this place is something of a split away from an infinite number of timelines, across infinite dimensions. The people it pulls in are mirrored souls, in a sense...those who are still alive still exist in their home timelines and will carry out their stories to the end, uninterrupted. No one has gone missing from any given place. The versions who exist here are something new, created from the characters in those stories. And...squid-shaped, apparently.

Now and again someone is called to return to the sea. I couldn't tell you why, though I've seen it happen. I know that there are those who refer to this as "going home", but -- as far as I'm aware, the ocean is "home" now. With our roles in our old timelines occupied and moving merrily along, there's nothing to truly go home to.

[This is the most important thing: Brutally killing any notion this guy might have that he can go home. It's a cruel thing to have to tell him, but to Break's perspective, also, a kindness.]
payingfordeliverance: (Smile: Nothing for it)

[personal profile] payingfordeliverance 2022-02-19 03:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[Qrow's expressed a similar sentiment -- that he wouldn't know what to do with himself if he properly "retired" as Break has. The Hunters have too much by way of rules and paperwork for his tastes, but Break knows he still hunts down the odd monster here and there just for the sake of doing what he's always done, and has written deep in his heart. Break himself keeps his hand in, far too paranoid to let himself go even as he claims there are far scarier warriors in town and that means he can fight for fun again, and even thinks in passing from time to time that taking on a proper apprentice might be fun.

Probably every veteran of anything has those sorts of thoughts here. The world is so inherently dangerous, and you can't just escape what you've always been.]


Whatever suits you, really. [This comment sounds flippant, but he's not without sympathy.] If you're the heroic type, there's always something to do. The Hunters focus on bringing down the beasts and things that plague the place, if you're keen on being on a local team. Mm, but -- there are plenty of endeavors led by Sleepers, too. A particular young lady of my acquaintance and some of the friends she's made here focus on keeping safehouses about the town, for example, so that people will have safe and well-stocked places to go in the event of a crisis.

[He braces his hands on the back of the bench on either side of him, so that he can lean back a little. The next thing he says comes in a somewhat brighter tone. Break was uncertain of himself too when he arrived, but the path he's chosen has treated him well, and he's confident in it now.]

Me, I'm retired, these days. At home I was one of the strongest fighters around, but this place is just crawling with folks who can say the same, and with much weirder and greater powers than mine. Since no one will miss me on the field and I've a pile of kids to look after, I've spent these past several months learning to cook. It's always good for frightened kids and tired warriors to have a soft place to land in at the end of the day, you know?
payingfordeliverance: (Smile: Not sunken just yet)

[personal profile] payingfordeliverance 2022-02-21 02:17 am (UTC)(link)
[Break gives him time to organize his thoughts, occupying himself with giving Baltus ear rubs in the meantime, once his omen has trotted back out of the underbrush. When Hayato does speak, it's probably the least surprising thing he could say, honestly. Break felt it himself when he arrived, the sudden shock of a quest that had guided him for fifteen years abruptly over. He knows very well that if he hadn't had the kids to stand up for right away, it would have taken him months to sort himself out.]

Mm. I suppose that...part of the beauty of this place bringing in people from so many different worlds is -- you'll find, I think, that there are a great many people here who understand how it feels to be in exactly that sort of situation. The place seems to have a taste for such people.

[He doesn't bother to clarify that he is one of them. It's really only true on a technicality. Things didn't solidify into "holding the line" like that until the very end, and when they did, Break served as support to the real stars of the story. He also stops just short of saying that Hayato isn't truly alone here even if he is without his team, because that's gross. But it's what he means.]

Only a few against a much larger enemy with no respite, monsters out to destroy humanity, those who would take control of it all with no regard for who it might hurt, even awful experiments on innocents...I have heard of all of these things since coming here. It's dreadful to think of such things being so common, but -- it means that those who stand up against them are common, too, right?
payingfordeliverance: (Smile: A tender moment)

[personal profile] payingfordeliverance 2022-02-25 02:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[Break is watching from the corner of his eye, so while he hasn't caught what was going on within the seeping wounds the man's inflicted on his own arm as of yet, he does spot him pausing to shudder and collect himself. To launch straight into a statement like that right after, only a little ways into their conversation here -- does that mean he's already sussed out that this place terrorizes you until you talk about serious things, or is he just the sort of guy who is totally willing to unload onto a complete stranger? He can't help but approve in this moment, either way. If Hayato were as cagey as Break is, no doubt sorting him out would be a lot more difficult! Funny how convenient it is for other people when someone isn't Xerxes Break.]

Well. A great many people do refer to this world as their "second chance", you know? An opportunity to start over. Those who come from worlds where their circumstances had trapped them to this role or that role often say that they prefer this one over their own, for all that it certainly isn't a kind place. Because...for once, they get to choose.

[Break's own kids are in this position. Technically, so is he, but -- well, the kids, the kids are what's important here. Some are handling it better than others, but all of them are taking advantage.]

I think that, if you were to seize such an opportunity for yourself too...you'd find you certainly weren't alone in that, either.
payingfordeliverance: (Smile: It's all a game)

[personal profile] payingfordeliverance 2022-03-05 06:59 am (UTC)(link)
You've come around quickly.

[Whether that speaks to the adaptability this guy is claiming or it's a matter of this particular idea being something that has haunted him for a long time, something he's only too eager to cast off, Break does not question. Not aloud, anyway. That seems rude.]

It's not difficult to contribute to the good of the place, I think. In a world so intent on being terrible, and where it's crucial to keep corruption levels down...most anything that can bring a touch of peace about matters.
payingfordeliverance: (Pensive: Tender)

[personal profile] payingfordeliverance 2022-03-10 11:45 pm (UTC)(link)
[Break gives a gentle, thoughtful hum. This is something that -- well, he's never experienced it directly, but he has an idea of it, perhaps. Given his own tendency toward chronic pains, thanks initially to the Mad Hatter and these days thanks to some sort of irritating darkblood issue he probably deserves, Break does know what it's like to get used to hurting, have that hurt taken away, and then to be totally blindsided by it when it returns. Even if you were entirely accustomed to your own aches before, it all starts over when they're fresh and new again. Break imagines it must be astronomically worse if pain is something you weren't even capable of.

No wonder this guy was in such a state back there, even if it's been relatively easy to talk him down from it.]


One of the first incidents to happen to me here...was getting kidnapped by a flock of ravens who tossed me into a decidedly unromantic boat ride with a guy I'd met exactly one time, where we were shown illusionary corpses of our loved ones. Fortunately, he's been in this place a great deal longer than I have, and -- told me right away that if we talked of those painful things and got it over with, the illusion would resolve itself. I've found this to be the way it is over and over again since.

[So, there's the reason Break was so willing to swoop in here, if Hayato is able to read between his lines. Someone who understood things was there to help him as he found his feet, and it made all the difference. Thus, Break is here, paying it forward.]

...shall I help you with that arm?

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