quietmounds | (no subject)

Whether or not you can really do the things you say.

[(= hands her the drink]

Do you mind if we go somewhere else? It looks bad if I'm chatting on the floor.

Probably bad form to do this in a coffee shop anyway. Lead the way.

[ Taking the drink and then taking a sip, humming in approval after a moment. Sweet delicious caffeine. ]

[anyway then Kei goes somewhere semi alone with the lady who specifically was like, you know a great way to hunt humans, get them alone.

It's semi public at least, just wandering toward the lake. It's a nice day!]

What's your name?

[ She doesn't seem to be making any kind of hostile motions towards him, anyway. Perfectly casual. She looks entirely ordinary, too, except for the eyes, which are just a shade too bright. ]

Yukari. And what should I call you?

Nakamura Kaito. Whichever name you want to use is fine.

So, how were you planning to show off?

Not with murder, I'm afraid, so I apologize in advance if that's a disappointment. How about you tell me why it's of such interest to you, and then I'll show you what I've got, such as it is.

I specifically said not murder, so I can't say I'm disappointed.

[hah

thinks about her question pretty seriously.]

Obviously, humans are very limited.

And part of being limited is not being able to see very far past your own limitations.

So I was wondering, if there are beings here far beyond humans, what that looks like.

You asked me not to murder you in particular. Our conversation demonstrated rather plainly that I can be pedantic if I feel like it, and it also demonstrated that you're not stupid, so you knew your phrasing didn't exclude murdering someone else. Hypothetically, if I were going to kill off a random pedestrian to prove a point for you, how would you feel about that?

[squints]

It creates a lot more potential inconvenience than it's worth. That you can kill people and bring them back to life is probably the ability of yours that sounds least unbelievable to me.

Is that so? I wonder why that is. And whether or not the answer has anything to do with why you're not afraid to walk around town with someone who claims to be a man-eater.

[ She stops walking, abruptly. There don't seem to be very many people around, just now. Nobody paying attention to them, certainly. ]

There isn't really a point to being afraid of it, this place is too small for me to avoid you, I can't die permanently here anyway, and if you are even a fraction as powerful as you say, it would take no effort for you to get to me.

Whether or not I can avoid you right now isn't really important. The real question, is can I avoid you for as long as we are both here? Since your status as a predator represents a permanent threat.

Obviously, I can't.

So I just skipped making a big deal about it and decided to see if you'd actually keep your word.

Edited 2017-05-26 05:17 (UTC)

[ Just. Fucking laughs at that. ]

An eminently practical answer. You really are something, do you know that?

[ Anyway. The air behind her starts to shimmer weirdly, like it's being stretched. And then torn, like pulling cloth until it rips, space splitting and shredding, revealing what's behind it. Black and red and black, the wavering impression of eyes staring out at you, pale fingers clawing at the edges of a hole in the world that's getting bigger by the second. ]

[kind of frowns at being laughed at like-]

How else am I supposed to--

[only then you know. reality starts to warp.

He's seen black like this, honestly. Though not like this.

But he's immediately frozen by it. Not afraid, just startled.]

...Oh.

[ Holding out her hand, like she wants him to take it. ]

Oh. Shall we, then?

[It is very hard to stop staring at the reality bending bullshit to stare at her but once he does he can't stop, until his gaze shifts to her hand.

It's obvious he has some kind of internal argument with himself about it.

And part of that is clearly worry. He's not incapable of fear after all.

But what he does is take her hand.]

Okay.

Let's see what you've got.

[ She grasps the offered hand with a firm grip. Stronger than she looks, for sure, though she probably doesn't have to be that strong to pull you off your feet with one sharp yank, stepping back into the void with a rush of cold air as it snaps back shut behind you.

And she's the only thing visible inside, at first -- she looks no different than she did out on the street, although there's no source of light here to illuminate her. But when your eyes adjust there are shapes moving in the darkness. Like light on the back of your eyelids when you close them. Or maybe like: close your eyes and try to visualize. No light enters the pupil, you don't see anything, really. You just remember seeing, like in a dream.

She lets go of your hand, and it all goes black. Blacker than black, absolute and oppressive and irresistible, like going under anesthesia. Or like dying.

You don't open your eyes, exactly -- they were already open. It's just that sight returns, with no particular fanfare. When you can see again, you get that weird feeling, like after you take a nap that was supposed to be short but it feels like maybe you just slept for like 12 hours and missed work and where is your alarm clock, and also where did you even fall asleep in the first place?

Apparently you fell asleep in the middle of a field. The grass is tall enough to come up to your knees if you stood up. There's the faint sound of crickets chirping, and little else. It's the middle of the night. No moon, but the stars are very, very bright. You must be out in the absolute middle of fucking nowhere, to be able to see the Milky Way like this.

There's a tripod telescope next to you, within reach. It looks extremely fancy. ]

[Waking up Completely Disoriented means the most Restrained Panic Of All Time.

He just sits up abruptly and sits very still, he shouldn't be looking about, but can't quite help but take that in as well, even though it takes several seconds for any of it to register.

When is it? Unimportant.

Where am I? Unknown.

What happened? That, he can answer, clawing information together as he drags his brain back from something that feels like the disorientation of sleep woke from wrong, even though he's also aware he was not asleep. Or his mind says he couldn't have been. Or something.

Yukari. Youkai. You made some choices, Kaito, possibly some very bad ones, but how much choice did you really have?

It's only after he determines that he can't come up with more than that, when he's beat away most of the grogginess, that he stumbles to his feet and looks around.

For a moment he wonders seriously if he somehow dreamed the whole thing. It would, technically, make more sense. No weird haunted reality that exists no where. No time traveling new friends. No god powered demon women. Just some nonsense ideas cobbled together into something that felt like it made sense to his unconscious mind.

He can't make himself believe it for even a moment though.

He stares at the milky way for a long, long minute, before really noticing the telescope and the prompt it offers, and going to look through it.]

Edited 2017-05-26 06:44 (UTC)

[ It's pointed at a star. Hard to tell which one, obviously, but it's bright and beautiful and big.

There's a voice from behind you: ]

Hey! You're not starting without me, are you?

[ It's not Yukari, though. It's not anybody you recognize. It's some weird girl in a hat and frilly dress. Smiling like she knows you. ]

[Jerks up and stares at her, confused when. Not yukari?? Who is this?

What?]

Who are you?

[ She does not seem to have registered the question. Just going on like you said something else altogether. ]

I told you I'd be here in time. And there's no point in looking now. It's not for another -- [ she glances up at the sky for a moment, like you might check your watch ] -- four minutes and thirty-seven seconds.

[Being Ignored As If I Followed The Script feels like NPC business, and immediately makes him more sour.]

Do you think in the next four minutes and thirty-seven seconds you can tell me who you are and what is going on?

[ She's not listening, clearly. She just laughs at something you didn't say, and moves over to the telescope, leaning down to look through the sight and turning some knobs to adjust something.

Fortunately, there's another, more familiar voice. Yukari has apparently just been kind of lying in the grass nearby this whole time. She's sitting up down, rubbing her eyes like she's been napping. She's wearing something different from her outfit in Quiet Mounds. A frilly purple dress, not remotely in modern fashion. ]

Don't bother. She's not listening because there's no one there to listen. It's a dream.

[were you really there the whole time.

I guess it's not important.]

So you are still here.

[He's?? Relieved, weirdly, to not be here alone with a person ignoring his existence. Actually kind of relaxes once he sees her and also she offers an explanation]

...is it your dream?

Edited 2017-05-26 07:31 (UTC)

[ The dark-haired girl responds, apparently to Yukari, without looking up from the telescope. ]

You're definitely awake, Merry. Why, do you see something weird?

[ Yukari, meanwhile, just shrugs. She seems sort of pensive. She's looking up at the stars. ]

In a manner of speaking, sure. It's mine. It belongs to me, let's say.

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