Lunar Interlude 2

[balancemod]

Let's try to keep the paperwork to a minimum, shall we? NAVIGATION 1. NEW RECLAIMERS A. WELCOME WELCOME! FAH WHO RAHMUS For the nine of you who will be arriving today, the story is the same: though you may not remember it, there was a moment where you were living out your life, at home or wherever you were ... and then there was the moment the Hunger came. And amid the television static that is your memory of that moment, a hand reached out to you, beckoning your escape as the tendrils of darkness destroyed everything that ever existed about your world. "Would you hurry this up, please? Your world no longer stands a chance. Come with me, we are the last bastions of hope for all universes everywhere. And we're going to need you." And then, unceremoniously, you are dragged through the universal wringer and plopped down on the soft, though not quite cushioned, grass of the Moon Base Quad. There are other people out in the grassy fields — they may even be people you recognize. They may just be strangers, other Reclaimers, who recognize what you're about to endure. The things they say may be interspersed with static — as if the words themselves aren't reaching your ears correctly. And you have a few minutes to chat before you're calmly led away by Bureau administration, to do something about that pesky static problem. B. THE VOIDFISH The nine of you are quickly divided into two groups, and brought to the easternmost geodesic dome, to an elevator in a well maintained, but sparsely landscaped field. There's nothing particularly ominous feeling about the space — in fact, the two guards who greet you at the elevator entrance seem pleased with your arrival. You are, after all, one of the few chosen by the Director, the few who will reclaim what the Hunger has destroyed. And in a few moments, you're about to find that out for yourself. After a tightly packed elevator ride, your group is ushered out to a rather grand looking hall, banners of the Bureau of Balance adorn both sides of smooth metal walls. And inside the Voidfish's chamber stands a tank — impossibly tall, and soaked in a black ink that obscures whatever the tank may be holding. You may notice the sound of someone speaking. It's a bard, on his second round of introducing Reclaimers to the Voidfish, and this time, he has chosen to demonstrate the functions of the outrageously vertical tank not by playing violin music, but by reciting a piece of classical, and highly valued poetry. When he finishes, he pulls at a drawer just at the metallic base of the tank. He solemnly enters a few scrolls into its basin as the tank begins to light up, like lightning behind dark clouds. And suddenly, you forget what that invaluable example of universal literature sounded like. "Yeah, man, like... don't think too hard about it, it's like that every time. I'm guessing you're here to be inoculated? Just a heads up, you might want to, like, seriously, hold your nose while you drink it down. It tastes wicked gross, man. Anyway, I'm supposed to tell you that you have a choice. If you drink the black stuff, you'll be able to hear through the, uh... Huh, how do I describe it? Through the [TSHCSCHTSHCHSC] sound. You guys like, hear that? Anyway, it's all about knowledge or something. I don't know, I'm just here to, like, feed the thing. We call it the [TSCHHSCHSCH], by the way. So, like. You get a choice. You can drink it and understand stuff, or not drink it and then hear that crackling noise all day every day. If I were you, I'd drink it. But, hey man, I'm not like, your dad or anything." The bard takes five cups and draws liquid from a spigot connected directly to the basin of the large tank. Stormy, muddy looking ichor is drawn into them, one by one. He offers each of you a sip. Drink it (he wasn't kidding about what it tasted like), and you're inoculated to the wisdom of the Voidfish. You try to remember the poetry this bard recited a few moments ago and the rhymes, the meter, the significance, all come back to you. And if you think back to your arrival, some of the things you may have heard other people in the Quad say, that simply sounded like static, are suddenly clear. Bureau of Balance. Grand Relic. Reclaimers. Yet you still can't remember the Hunger or what it had done to your world. And as you look back to the tank in front of you, the water has become clear. There's a jellyfish, as tall as a building, floating within. You look into the body of the creature and you can almost make out a beautiful, tiny universe floating within it. 2. THE TEST OF INITIATION With your new knowledge on the Bureau of Balance and your purpose here in tow, you are led without hesitation to the Arena, where the final phase of your initiation into the Bureau will be held. You are partnered up, whether it is with someone you drank the ichor of the Voidfish with, or perhaps even a veteran Reclaimer, who either stopped by to help, or simply out of curiosity. One Grand Relic has already been reclaimed, you're told. They were a pair of bright red mittens, held by the mayor of a small village who may have meant well, but under the draw of the mittens' incredible space-bending powers, was corrupted into using them, and to nearly killing everyone who lived under him. You may have noticed, at some point while glancing out into space while walking here, to the planet below, a massive evergreen fir that stretches past the planet's atmosphere, very nearly piercing the Moon Base itself. It appears to be decorated for the holidays. That tree is the direct result of those mittens, the actions of a man who could not resist the temptation to use them. Resisting that very same temptation is your task here. And with that order in mind, as you and your partner stand in the middle of the Arena, the walls dissolve, and the simulation begins. You're standing in the middle of a forest. Ahead of you, situated on a pedestal, is an item. It could be any ordinary item: a pair of gloves, a teapot, a simple decorative bowl. Whatever it is, it's yours for the taking. Take that simple item in your hands, however, and the building blocks of the trees around you suddenly collapse like shattered glass, and reform into new scenery — it may even be a place from home that you recognize. A voice in your head beckons you. Perhaps there's a mistake you made, or something that went wrong for you back home that you wish you had the power to undo. Perhaps there's someone you wish you could help, or even save. The item that's in your hands has the power to help you achieve this, if only you'd ever use it. Resist the temptation. Take the item, and drop it into a nearby deposit box to be destroyed. Your partner is here to help you — because once you destroy it, you will be doing the same for them. 3. NEWBIES AND VETERANS, AROUND THE MOONBASE Three or four days into the month, now that the newbies are settled in, something strange happens: The next time you return to your flat from whatever errand or exploring you were doing, when attempting to use your Bracer to open the door results in extremely obnoxious beeping that persists for an entire thirty seconds, and a message on the screen next to the door. ERROR: HOME ASSIGNMENT MECHANISM MALFUNCTION. GO TAKE A WALK. Welp. Looks like you're locked out for a bit while techs fix that. Here's a few places that might be worth checking out. A. PIECES FROM HOME Should you find your way to the Dojo, there's a door that still has that shiny, brand spanking new door look and new door smell to it off in one of the less traversed corners of the building. A sign next to the door demands that you empty your pockets before entering. A scanner for your Bracer will unlock it, assuming it's unoccupied, leading you to a plain white room with no furniture or objects at all in sight. As the door shuts behind you, a pleasant female voice echoes from all corners of the room, greeting you by name. If this is your first time in the room, the voice has a simple question for you: "What memory do you value, or think of, most?" Once you've provided your answer, the walls crumble, much like they did during the Test of Initiation simulation, reforming into something that is, again, pleasantly, or even unpleasantly, familiar. It's a space from home. Perhaps it's your room. Perhaps it's your favorite restaurant (though, the place is curiously empty, and the food you find, for some reason, tastes like strawberries). Perhaps it's a park you always enjoyed visiting, or a corner of the city you lived in. Whatever it is, you, and whoever you may have brought along with you, seem to be the only ones there. And perhaps the details aren't quite right — like maybe someone built a model of your home to explore, but a few pieces were missing from the box. But it's close enough. B. SPEND YOUR DOUGH. SOLVE A MYSTERY Whether you're a newcomer or a veteran returning from your first Field Mission, you've been provided with some spending money. You can use it to buy yourself one weapon and piece of armor from one of the blacksmiths in town. Regardless of who you choose to help you out with that, it'll take about a week to complete your order, so time your purchase carefully. There's also premade weapons and a whole bunch of other bullshit for sale at FANTASY COSTCO. Shelves and pallets of an endless array of nonmagical items, pretty much anything you can imagine, can be bought here, but there's one particular, innocuous item that seems to have Garfield the Deals Warlock in a tizzy. The more those vinyl covers that can be used to decorate your Bracers are purchased, the more the name seems to spread, ghosts of whispers around the entire Moon Base, of a person who may very well be a ghost herself. Who is Miss Zarves? Who was Miss Zarves? A powerful witch with the power to scramble your memories, insists one cantankerous woman who pours you a drink at Madame Frione's Tea Kettle. A heavyset, flushed with drink sort of man sitting next to you disagrees — Miss Zarves is a practical joke Garfield likes to trot out every couple of months to mess around with anybody gullible enough to believe him. Whatever the case, it seems that the name alone gives everyone a curious case of déjà vu. Someone has to have information on her — and this is the Reclaimers' opportunity to hone their information gathering skills. C. A (PERHAPS MANDATORY) DAY AT STOP DYING 101 Whether you're in class voluntarily, or whether you were dragged there on account of dying the past Field Mission, today's session of Fatalistic Fauna, and Danger Sense to channel your inner barbarian is going on a little field trip to the Arena. Because this is your first test to see if you can put all that information that's been given to you in the first few lectures to good use. You and a partner are placed in the middle of the Arena, in a simulation of an expansive, empty field, up against the first monster you were introduced to in class: A Bulette, a fearsome beast that can burrow, lunge, deal severe piercing damage, and jump an absolutely incredible distance. And you and your Reclaimer partner are absolutely no match for it. Your only option here is to escape. Can you? If you are dealt simulated fatal damage, then the Arena will dissolve back to normal, and you'll be given extra homework and reading material for the day. Sorry, them's the breaks. D. OPEN THE DOOR, GET ON THE FLOOR, EVERYBODY DO THE DINOSAUR There's a signup available for those looking to take Dance lessons at the Academy. There seem to be enough slots available for 50 or so people, and the form's name simply reads: "DANCE, NOW. WITH MS. CHARLOTTE." It's a pretty large time commitment- a crash course in dancing is a rather intensive affair. You'll be spending 4 days a week for 2 weeks, 2-3 hours per day, learning all the basics of the waltz, the tango, and the quickstep. Don't even think about trying the cha-cha slide here, it's simply not pasodoable. At the studio, you can borrow a pair of ballet slippers and join in with Ms. Charlotte, which, for anyone coming to the class for the first time should be rightly horrified. The newest member of the Bureau of Balance is a spider. A delegate from New New Aspen, Ms. Charlotte comes equipped with a bracer of her own, has taken in the Voidfish juice, and relocated here, to teach at the Academy. She moonlights as a ballroom dance instructor and a coach, and boy... she's pretty demanding with her approach, but incredibly thorough. You don't want to let Ms. Charlotte down. The sessions she teaches will get you to learn the basics. Natural aptitude, of course, goes a long way, but she's very 8-hands on with her approach at correcting posture and steps. Not without compassion, however, if you manage to get blisters on your feet, Ms. Charlotte's web bandages will set and help heal those sore, tired feet. The next 2 weeks of this boot camp are going to be brutal. E. THE MOON IS YOUR SPACE OYSTER (WILDCARD) There are plenty of other locations around the Moon Base that you can explore at your own discretion. Feel free to refer to the Settings page for more ideas on what shenanigans you can get into. Additionally, we'll be fielding Bender rolls again this month! With the exception of the three items that have been removed from his recipe database, if a food item was destroyed in a failed roll previously, you may roll to try to fix it. Bear in mind, of course, that you may make it worse. Successful food rolls will stay in place at this time. 4. THE DIRECTOR ACTS; A GRAND RELIC DESTROYED Erika has obtained and delivered the Space Mittens to Madame Director herself. She struggles to remain calm and composed at the moment, but the amount of immense pride and relief at recovering the Grand Relic slips through an otherwise sturdy exterior of coolness and level-headed features. She congratulates the entirety of the Bureau of Balance for their hard work, and relates to Erika that she couldn't be happier that she had made this world one step closer to being safe. A message will appear across all bracers, everywhere, with the following: Reclaimers, welcome home and congratulations on a successful first mission. Although there were certain drawbacks and difficult decisions that had to be made, I believe, without a doubt, that you all have irrefutably surpassed all expectations. Congratulations on a job well done. However, next time, please do be more careful out there. For those of you who wish to watch, my office will remain open until 1600 hours today. The relic will be destroyed, and if you would like to attend to see how it's done, please stop by. There will be light refreshments and coffee served, of course. If unable to attend, you can watch the ceremony later on your bracers. Don't forget to click Like and Subscribe. At the appointed hour, a ceremony will occur. She calls forth Davenport to wheel out the structure that's been created and designed with the sole purpose of destroying these things. She dare not takes the relic herself, no, refusing to touch the item at all. It's a medium sized metallic sphere, and once opened and closed, can never be opened again. Pulling back the curtain to an observatory, the Reclaimers can watch as Davenport sports a nifty pair of goggles, and wheels the orb onto a raised platform. He waits for the Director's signal, which is performed by an agreeable stamp of her oaken staff against the floor, and a nod. Davenport hits the KILL SWITCH, and the light show from behind the glass is amazing and terrifying all at the same time. You watch as the Space Mittens are obliterated from existence. An eruption of cheering breaks out. This concludes the first successful mission, and a deeply needed win, for the Bureau of Balance. blurb code by photosynthesis

Comments

[grakraka]

[Notes: Although I did specific prompts for Mary and his red blue bull wings, you're free to mix and match those two prompts with any wildcard one. The doll will always be on him and he'll be drinking a few energy drinks over the time here, so there's no harm in it!]


[Roulette of Suspiciously Uninteresting Sights]

[A few times you might be able to catch him cursing at nothing as he struggles with his pack. Or at least it seems like nothing? But if you A) follow his gaze to the pack itself, you'll see a strange doll's head poking out of it. Weird. Then the strange doll starts floating out of the pack and you might realise he's not the insane part of this equation.

The doll stares into your soul if you linger too long without speaking.

Though you could also B) bother him while he's sitting among a cluster of trees in the Quad, doing homework for his mandatory class, except for some reason he has a pair of angelic wings on his back that are—judging by how they occasionally shift—real.

To top it all off, he almost has an unusual feeling about him. You could call it divine or angelic, just like the wings. But he isn't paying attention to that.]

[Detention]

[As one of the people being forced to attend the class, he can't help but feel an unusual amount of pressure to excel at it. A trip to the Arena just makes it worse. Of course there would be a practical test.

But he isn't exactly good at backing down from a challenge and part of him insists that if he actually showed a smart, tactical way to beat whatever they face, he could get more points.

Ugh, no no. He knows that isn't true. What will earn the most praise is surviving well. But what would be the best way to do that while showing off his own talents in it? He has a shield now... Hm.]

Ah, would you like to be partners for the test?

[Do you really want to pair up with the guy who has been being a Perfect Student Suck Up all class?]

[Night Rain]

[Though surprised by the question, it summons something immediate inside of him: a somewhat hazy memory of delicious coffee, the low murmur of the TV, the smell of curry and the gentle sound of rain. A book to read and no one to care what he does or who he is, not because they dislike him but simply because he's welcome among them as just another person.

No pressure to be perfect. He liked to think of it as a little escape from everything. There had never been a place to him that mattered before then. And so that is what the room provides.

Of course, he can't have anyone knowing he's using this escape, so he doesn't go at normal hours. He either just stays out late or sneaks out of his room, depending on Qrow's state or general presence, and waits until the area has gone completely quiet before using it.

This means that you have a few ways to ruin his peace: A) means you managed to hide well enough that you can ambush him before he goes in or B) you waited for him to come out, meaning you get to see a brief, couple of second view of a small, cozy cafe before the room reverts back to blank.]

[Wildcard]

[Akechi will generally be around, attending the Director's little get-together for relic destruction, attending dancing lessons while trying not to stay around Miss Charlotte even if she's nice or doing other things. If you want a specific starter you can hit me up on plurk at astronomia or just start your own! i should be able to do tags regularly again soon.]

spins the roulette wheel

[gotyourbach]

[Oh, homework? For class? What a nerd.

Not that Kaede is one to talk, what with her backpack stuffed full of sheet music and several other books clearly borrowed from the Artificer's office in her arms. It's the wings that catch her attention more than anything else, though. She doesn't quite try to sneak up on him, but she doesn't say anything, either, just watching them curiously. He really does look like an ange--]

Eeeeeeeeeek!!

[Books go flying as that cursed doll pops her head up from behind Akechi, Kaede's arms almost reflexively covering her face.]

A-Akechi-kun, watch out!!

[grakraka]

[Oh God no. Akechi stops trying to force Mary down to reach out to try to comfort her. Unfortunately, that means Mary has the freedom to pop out completely and float next to him, staring unblinkingly at Kaede as he cowers.]

N-No! No, it's— Ka— [Wait no don't fluster so much to use her first name Good Lord.] Please, relax! It's safe!

also detention did you think i was making a joke

[gotyourbach]

Yeah! Let's do this!!

[Kaede pumps both fists in the air with a bright smile. If she's partnered with Akechi... there's no way they can lose! Just being around him fills her with a weird kind of courage. It must be a paladin thing. As long as that weird cursed doll stays out of sight, she's sure they can handle whatever gets literally thrown at them!

...Or, well, that's what she'd like to think. She frowns at him, then points straight up in the air.]

Oh, but if we're partnered together, we have to work together, got it? So... let's make a plan!

[grakraka]

[The cursed doll has been thankfully stuffed into his pack at his side. At least she seems content there for the moment.

Ah. He blinks.]

Well... All right. I admit, I don't mind doing most of the work as the one with the most fighting experience but I do want you to get better at fighting, so I shouldn't be overbearing about this...

[After musing out loud, he nods.]

Very well. What is your skillset right now?

night rain b you gotta live with the consequences

[gotyourbach]

[She wasn't waiting for him, per se. More like, she'd found herself here, found the room occupied, and just... settled in to wait for whoever was in it to leave. She has no way of knowing how long they've been in there, or how much longer they're planning to stay. Right now, it's enough that she crossed the base to be here, sitting next to the door with her knees pressed into her chest, head pillowed in her arms.

She's tired. She's so, so tired. It's not until ever-keen ears hear the sound of the door unlatching that she realizes she'd started to doze back off. There's a flash of momentary annoyance at being jolted out of her light doze, then embarrassment settles in as she glances first at the person who emerges, then into the room they've left behind.

--Then back to the person stepping out.]

...Akechi-kun?

[grakraka]

[Fuck. It's Kaede.

Of course it's Kaede. It could only be the third worst person to see this.]

...Good evening, Akamatsu-san.

BAD LUCK ROULETTE

[blodsvorr]

[Hey, it's bird uncle! And he's literally grabbing Akechi by the wing. It's a firm grip, and oddly reminiscent of a parent grabbing a child by the ear. At least he's not pulling.]

Decided to go full crow, huh? I guess I can't criticize you for sticking to the theme, but they're a little clunky. And real obvious.

[Yeah, no, Qrow absolutely knows where this came from. It is Akechi's turn to be in trouble.]

[grakraka]

[Irritation flashes over his face, which he switches to a pout.]

Ouch.

[It does not actually hurt but he's angling for sympathy.]

Detention

[discerp]

[She's really just here out of curiosity, but she didn't really expect a field test. She looks like she's already been through a round, with bandages going all up one leg and one arm, a bandaid stuck over her cheek, but otherwise not looking terribly worse for wear, if a little...frazzled.

Her eyes keep darting around like she's trying to figure out an escape plan when Akechi speaks up.] Eek! [Mikan jumps and stares wide-eyed at him.] M-me?

[She's probably right to be baffled--Akechi had been Mister Golden Boy through the class and Mikan was... Mikan. She knew where she stood in the order of most things, so obvious Akechi can only be offering to team up with her for one of two reasons: Because he needs someone to be bait, or because he wants to look good protecting who Mikan is reasonably sure is the most pathetic person in the class.

She twists her fingers around each other and looks down at the floor.]

...O-okay... I get it. [She looks up, swallowing hard] Um! I make really good bait! I can run pretty fast, and it's fine if I get hurt... S-so, you should concentrate... On yourself...

So, um, so! You don't have to worry! I'll be the best target! I'm really good at that, I have a lot of practice! [that's...reassuring??]

[grakraka]

[While she might have the right idea, Akechi would rather she not actually get hurt. He's surprised that she read that so easily, though, and actually it's pretty startling. For a moment he frowns and clears his throat.

Fuck, when she puts it like that, his intentions were... not great. Definitely not something 95% of his guardians would approve of. Possibly even 100% of them, meaning it is universally bad.]

No, no. I don't— [Akechi clears his throat and straightens up.] —My apologies. I didn't... mean to startle you that way. I imagine that approaching you suddenly despite your appearance must have worried you but no, I was planning to, ah, pick an inexperienced partner with the hopes of learning better to protect. Not bait, no.

[Which he does need to learn to do and that would have hopefully been the outcome.

Fuck. He feels so guilty now. Uncomfortable, he clears his throat and shifts the topic slightly.]

What is your class and current abilities?

Night Rain B

[gambolshroud]

[Blake is no stranger to late nights, and tonight she's found it particularly difficult to sleep. She even finds herself feeling too restless to relax and read, and in the interest of not disrupting her roommate any more than necessary, she finally decides to slip out of her room and try to make some good use out of these waking hours.

She's not sure what, exactly, brings her to the Dojo at first. Morbid curiosity, perhaps— she's avoided the simulation room so far, too anxious about potentially seeing a scene from home and not being able to handle it, but perhaps homesickness has finally won out. Curiosity is a powerful thing, but when she reaches the door to the room itself, she finds that it's already occupied. Given that she's come this far already, she figures it can't do any harm to wait... but when the door finally opens, she's mildly surprised to see Akechi step out.

Would Qrow even let him leave the room this late?]

Oh— h-hey.

[grakraka]

[Not who he expected to see coming out. Well, he didn't expect to see anyone but she's a surprise. Almost a pleasant one. So many people could have seen that and it would have been terrible. But he thinks it's all right if it's her. Possibly.

Breathing out, he smiles slightly.]

Good evening. Or is it morning now? My apologies. If I had known you were waiting, I wouldn't have taken so long.

[Untrue. He would not have cared if he made people wait while he enjoyed his time there. But it's the polite thing to say.]

Roulette B like we meme'd about

[alethiological]

[ Poor boy is having a perfect moment zoning out in his homework when a one-armed monster immediately appears from his blind spot. The voice is growled out with the type of familiarity you'd give to scalping useless subordinates. ]

When did y-?!

[ And it's a visible scale of emotions upon catching the mistake. Phase one: Oh. It's just Akechi.

Phase two: Shit, it's Akechi.

Phase three: retreat retreat how the hell do you even retreat from this one, there is no salvation. ]

...Wrong person. Sorry for the interruption. Seen a kid around here?

[grakraka]

A kid? No. But I do see you, Will.

[Akechi smiles at him.

He's really, really smiling at him.]

Would you like to explain?

[Roulette of Suspiciously Uninteresting Sights]

[thevanguard]

[ Okay so he'd been minding his own business, skateboarding back towards the dorms to see if his damn door would let him back inside his own damned room yet. Except he spots Akechi heading the opposite direction and on a whim, angles his board to send him in the other guys directions and...

and then skids to a frantic stop when a creepy looking doll comes floating out of his backpack.

Yata, the brave and reckless barbarian, stops short and almost falls off his skateboard in a sudden panic as he points at it. ]

It's a... g-ghost!!

[grakraka]

[Akechi's head shoots up to see Yata stumble like that, distracting him from the doll enough that she pops out of the pack to float in the air around him.]

No—! [Wait.] Y-Yes, technically, but... Ah, not evil! I think!

[He's too flustered to properly lie, so he says helpful things like that.]

night rain because in this house we hurt

[ryuji]

[Let's be real here, Ryuji is not covert at all about his actions, but he did see Akechi one night as they were heading in very opposing directions- Ryuji, for a late night snack, and Akechi for a late night cup of joe. One headed to the cafe, one headed to the Dojo, but in the end, hunger beat out curiosity and he just filed that away for later.

But as he lay there, eating his 1d20 donut of possible misery (and winding up with a sweet sausage bun, hell yeah), he started to slowly connect dots in his head. Typical low intellect, high wisdom type of person, he could figure out he was heading to the Dojo, and it wasn't likely he was going there in the middle of the night to train. So, it was probably related to the rooms that showed you a place from home you wanted to visit.

And that really piqued his interest. What could be in there that Akechi viewed as safe, welcoming, and a slice of a time better than this? Ryuji ends up testing the theory out. Roughly around the same time, aside from maybe 15 or so minutes, he sneaks out to check out the Dojo and see if the room is on lock down. Bingo. He leaves before Akechi gets out. Rinse, repeat a few times, until he decides...

You know what? Fuck it. He'll just wait for him to come out. Ryuji stands up against the wall, arms crossed, and out comes his fellow thief. The notes of coffee in the air are hard to miss, and that... that makes him raise an eyebrow.]

Evenin'.

yesssssssssssssssssssssssss

[grakraka]

[And there is number two on his list of people he would rather not let see this.

Akechi stops and stares at him, running a quick analysis. Ryuji appears at ease for the most part, so he isn't surprised to see Akechi. But going further than that, the way he feels at ease in particular means he has had time to mull over the situation, so this isn't even the first time.

Actually, he's a little impressed with him now that he thinks about it. Not that he's impossible to tail and outwit but Ryuji would be the first to admit that neither are his strong suits compared to jumping headfirst into a situation. Even the reserved nature of his greeting is a surprise.

But while impressed, he would rather not be caught at all, not by anyone who would know where he had been visiting. Clearing his throat, he tucks back a lock of hair behind his ear.]

Good evening, Ryuji. Were you having trouble sleeping?

roulette roulette!!

[rancori]

[Maria does, in fact, linger too long without speaking, just staring at this kid and his weird freaky doll and that's.

Well.]

What the hell is that?! You! What's that even doing with you?!

[grakraka]

[Oh Goddamn it. He's surprised enough to almost let go of her, though he tries to keep her from floating again.]

It wasn't my choice! I didn't choose her!

[The doll doesn't seem to care that he's insulting her.]

later: night rain (b)

[blodsvorr]

So this is where you go, huh.

[Surprise, Akechi! Behind you is Qrow, leaning on one forearm against the doorframe, looking in on the scene. You've been found out.]

[grakraka]

[Oh goddamn it. Akechi spins around, making a face at him, somewhat sulking.]

I thought you were deeply unconscious.

The totally unsuspicious doll

[cluelesscavewoman]

[Futayo was not a person of many words. She'd much rather wait and stare until given an order or something she could latch onto. So that's exactly what she does...

...


...Okay it's moving. Strange things moving that shouldn't be aren't all that new to her. There's a lot worse. That doesn't stop her from reaching a hand out to shove it back down into his bag again.

Just going to wordlessly slide that in. Only the doll and the bag are important, she's not even paying attention to the person carrying the bag.]

[grakraka]

[The doll doesn't seem to know how to take this approach but it can't really protest it? Akechi blinks as he watches her do it, too. But since she is, he takes advantage of it. The second the doll has been pushed down far enough, he closes the bag.

He unfortunately is assuming Futayo will pull her hand out before he does, though.]