Lamentable Nights: Act 04.1 - "You've Got a Friend in Me"

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Pictor
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Lamentable Nights: Act 04.1 - "You've Got a Friend in Me"

Post by Pictor »

Date: ???
Time: ???
Weather: ???
Location: ???
PC: (Jacket)
================


"Aw crap, it's Seb! let's scram!"

"Yea, that's right! Get outta here! I'd better not see your ugly mugs ever again!!"

"Uuuu..."

"Tch. The nerve of those... If those punks ever bother you again, I'll make sure to give 'em more than just a piece of my mind!"

"..."

"Oi, Salem. Are you okay? D-Did they hurt you?"

"Sniff -hic- N-no. Not really. But..."

"...Aw shoot. They wrecked up your Dark Dasher toy..."

"Uuuuuu..."

"A-Ah. It's not messed up too badly! Actually, I think I can fix it pretty easily. See? The arm just came off. You can pop it right back in!

"Uuuuu.. I'm -hic- u-useless aren't I, Sebastian...?"

"Hey... what makes you say that?"

"B-Because I'm always getting picked on. I'm small and I can't fight back. You always end up saving me. I.... -hic- I... c-can't do anything for myself... Uuuuuu..."

"Hey. Don't be stupid. You remember what mom always says, don't 'cha?"

"Oh... *sniff* Brave boys don't cry..."

"That's right, isn't it? Being brave isn't just something you can get up one morning and do. You start off with just a little bit of guts, so right now, wipe away those tears, 'kay?"

"Oh..."

"Hmmm... Salem. Listen. There's nothing wrong with relying on other people to help you! That's why I'm here. I'm your big brother! It's my job to look after you! But I think you were also very brave back there."

"... I was?"

"Of course! If you hadn't protected Dark Dasher, he would have been in even worse shape. I think he's grateful too! Hehe, besides, doesn't he get his arm chopped off in the show anyway? I think, it's just fate."

"Oh...! Hehe, you're right..."

"Hoi, see? You're laughing! That's the little brother I know! You know, when you're sad, it makes both mom and me unhappy too. That's another thing, right? If you can be cheerful, then you're being brave for both of us!"

"Okay...! T-Then I'll try not to be sad anymore!"

"Right then. Let's go back home. Mom was calling us for dinner. I think we'll get in trouble soon if we don't hustle!"

"... Sebastian?"

"Yea?"

"Umm... can you not tell mom about this, then?"

"... Yea, I gotcha. I won't tell."

"Thanks big br---

-KKKKKKSSSSSH KKKKKKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHH-


"You -KRRSSH- ow what, S -KSSSSSSSSH- lem?"

"-KSSSSSH- at, Se -KRRSSSH- tian?"

-KSSSSSSSSSH- -KRAAAAAK- -KSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSH-

"One day, maybe I'll count on you to save me!"

"R-Really? I don't think so..."

"Hey, you never know!"

But if that day comes, I'll be counting on you, 'kay bro?

-KRRRRRRRRRRRSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHH KRAAAAAASSSSSSSHH-

-------------

"Nnnnnngh...."
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marcien
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by marcien »

Date: 8 Jun, Tuesday
Time: Late morning
Weather: Thunderstorm
Location: Martin's apartment
PC: Sophia (Oriole)
Other PCs: Martin Chang, Makoto (M)

================

"Uuu, it's still raining," said Sophia rather obviously. The skies flashed and roared as though in agreement.

"It can't be helped if the weather's been like that the whole day. We'll have to continue our training at home."

"All right, Mister Martin!"

Though her voice remained cheerful, her crosser could sense her disappointment. "Did you want to go out, Sophia?"

"... Yes." Right on the dot. Technically, nothing should be preventing her from doing so, since strays are not affected by the physical weather. But both of them knew that it would be dangerous for the half-blind stray to be out by herself, considering how eventful their past week outdoors have been.

"Yo."

"Mister Mad Hooder!" Sophia exclaimed. Her prayers were answered.

"I'm here to borrow your screen. Lightning struck, Sanae's power tripped."

Not.

So without waiting to hear what the houseowner thought about his intrusion, Makoto propped himself in front of Martin's desktop. It was eight, just eight freaking minutes, before the end of the episode. You have shitty timing, Thor.

It was not known if Martin caught hints of the temperature around Sophia slowly rising, but if he did, he probably decided to leave it to the other stray to reap the effects of his ignorance and equally shitty timing to arrive.

"Well then, I'll be leaving now."

"Even with the weather like this?"

"Unlike you strays, rain or shine, I have to find a way to feed myself. And pay for the electricity bills."

"Thanks for your computer," mumbled Makoto, completely engrossed in The Tower of Draunest.

"Sophia, since Makoto is here, you don't have to follow me today."

The pouting ghost girl nodded as Martin exited from his apartment door. "Bye bye Mister Martin! Be careful!"

By now, Sophia had somewhat figured out that the screen was not a machine that would hypnotise a person to slowly extract some invisible energy from them. Apparently, things would appear on the screen and Mister Martin would then read his mails, or play Go on it.

But Sophia could not figure out why Mister Mad Hooder would have any mails to read or like to play Go. She continued staring at his back. Almost as if that would make rays shoot out of her eyes at him.
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marcien
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by marcien »

Date: 8 Jun, Tuesday
Time: 1236
Weather: Sun peaking from behind dark dark clouds, lots of rain
Location: Block 44 #12-108
PC: Z. Redmist
Other PCs: Jacket
================


An alert buzzed into Redmist's brain, telling him about yet another ether change from his server cabinet. He unwillingly got out of bed to check it.

And that was it. The very moment he dreaded. That stray had regained consciousness. He immediately put on a dressing gown and sent an instant message to Hailey's MPUD.

The racket coming from the standing server cabinet was so loud, Redmist did not bother putting on his gloves before he removed the electronic lock he had placed. The door swung open forcefully, missing his face by an inch, and out burst Phantom Jacket of Pebbleton.

"Wha... Where am I...?"

"You are in my home. You were--"

"Why was I in a... glass-metal coffin?"

"It was the only place I cou--"

"Mirto! Is she safe? She's got to be all right!"

"If you are referring to your previous link,--"

"Is SHE ALL RIGHT?!"

By now Jacket had already cornered Redmist to a computer terminal and was holding the less than athletic man by the shoulders and shaking him vigorously. For probably the first time since he met the accursed bird that had been continuously plaguing his life, Redmist thought, I wish Hailey would hurry up and come here.

(Redmist was unable to speak here since Jacket was holding his arms down. He only speaks when he can cover his mouth with his hands.)
"WHERE AM I?" Jacket released his hold and tore the curtains open. Redmist winced slightly at the sudden entry of pale sunlight and the sound of curtains tearing. Should have removed those staples.

"That's MIRTO'S HOME! It's just over there!"

"Wait! Don't--"

Jacket unlocked the window and pushed the pane aside. Ignoring the raindrops that were splashing in, he climbed onto the window sill and swung himself up onto the roof and of Block 44. And leapt away.

Redmist hurried to close the windows and looked in dismay at the puddles of rainwater on the floor. Damn you, accursed bird.

At the bottom of the now empty server cabinet with a cracked glass and dented metal frame door, laid one lone scrap of yellow cloth.


(now jacket holds the record for being the first person to force redmist into speaking an exclamation mark and using a contraction.)
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Pictor
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by Pictor »

Date: 8 Jun, Tuesday
Time: 1:10 PM
Weather: Heavy dark clouds, harsh rain
Location: Z. Redmist's Apartment
PC: Hailey
Other PC: Z. Redmist
================


"--Eh?"

Standing, completely drenched on the dreary balcony of a certain apartment, Hailey Geminesca laid her eyes on something new. To be more specific, something newly missing.

"... Where's the lock?"

Looking more carefully, it would appear as though the locking mechanism to Redmist's apartment had been very intentionally removed. At the same time it was obvious that someone had also very intentionally welded the edge of the door completely shut.

"You're kidding me. Clever little bastard, huh? Well, gotta give him credit for trying, I guess. But you can't keep me out this easily."

She'd only been using the laser cutter for making small holes to reach her hand through, but there's nothing stopping her from making a person-sized entrance straight into the glass. Punching a few keys into her MPUD, a small device the size and shape of a lipstick materialized in front of her. Hailey keenly snatched the object out of the air before it dropped.

"Hah. Here we go..."

Carefully aiming the device against the glass panel and pressing a small switch on its side, Hailey was about to begin to guide the emitted laser when something unprecedented occurred.

*PEW--!!*

Instead of making a neat and smooth cut into the glass, the laser immediately bounced back against the surface of the material, just barely grazing the side of Hailey's head. Some small flecks of singed hair blew away into the rough winds. After a few solemn moments of silence and non-movement, the raven Panzer had a minor outburst.

"THAT FUCKING IDIOT!! What the hell is he trying to do?! That could have killed me!!"

Suddenly, the curtains on the other side of the newly welded glass wall shot aside, revealing a very impassive Redmist sitting in an office chair. Silently, he reached behind him and produced a small piece of paper entitled "APARTMENT POLICIES - PAGE 1/3". The man then promptly held the sheet up against the glass and pointed to a very clearly outlined portion of the document.

Item 4: Please refrain from excessively loud activities that would affect other tenants. Complaints would be filed under Noise Pollution and Public Disturbance.

"WHAAAAAT?! Oi... are you trying to piss me off?? This isn't funny!! Hurry up and let me in already, it's getting cold out here!!"

In response to Hailey's agitation, Redmist simply set down the current sheet of paper and pulled out another one. This time, it was labeled "APARTMENT POLICIES - PAGE 2/3". Once again, he held up the document to the windowed and pointed to a specific point on the paper. One that was now both highlighted in a bold neon yellow and underlined profusely with what seemed like 5 different colors of pen.

Item 9: No animals allowed inside of premises. Pets included. Tenants found maintaining pets will be fined a fee of at least $500 and be required to remove the pet.

*Huff Huff Huff Huff*

It sounded as if some sort of incredibly rabid and feral beast was being provoked.

"Ha. Ha ha ha ha!! Funny! You're funny, house rat!!"

The beast rears its head to reveal hateful eyes and an aura of syrup-thick killing intent.

"I see! I understand! You want to die! You really want to die, don't you?! IF YOU WANTED A CRUEL, PAINFUL, WRITHING-FOR-HOURS-BEFORE-YOU-PERISH DEATH, YOU COULD HAVE JUST ASKED POLITELY!"

The beast smashed its claws into the barrier between itself and its prey. The welding rattled and seemed to crack.

"AREN'T YOU AN ANIMAL TOO THEN, YOU SHITTY HOUSE RAT?! WEREN'T YOU THE ONE WHO CALLED ME HERE?! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TRYING TO PULL?!"

Redmist had been conveniently surprised that one could purchase military-grade, infiltration-proof mirror glass right off the Internet. But it had just dawned on him that he should have opted for a ballistic demonstration first. Of course, he also had a backup plan just in case. Gently, Redmist kicked against the floor and rolled himself aside on the office chair. Reaching over, he knocked on the glass pane right in front of the monstrous face on the other side. Hailey managed to snap out of her berserker rage long enough to notice the piece of furniture that Redmist was now pointing to inside of his apartment. It was a large cabinet with its doors clearly opened, and insides clearly empty.

"Cheh."

Hailey backed off the glass and wiped the foam from the edge of her mouth.

"Ah, so that's what the big deal was. I couldn't even count on you, to handle a task as simple as watching over something both dead and unconscious , huh? God dammit. So? Where'd he take off to?"

(Stay calm. Just be completely stable and don't show any signs of weakness. Even though you never asked for any of this, stay calm and just take it. Even though she completely forced this upon you, if you try to argue with her she'll just try to argue back. Even though she's completely violating more of your human rights than you can count, if you do anything rash you'll only make her stay around even longer. It's fine. Nothing she says matters. If she goes away, you win.)

From behind the glass, Redmist nonchalantly gestured towards the north.

"Aaaah... Is that so? Going to that place. Psh. I wonder what he plans to do?"

(Eh? That's strange. For a second it sounded like her voice came from the inside. Hmmm, I wonder if I'm more nervous than I thou--)

Redmist looked up to see there was no longer anyone on his balcony.

"..."

Furthermore, there seemed to be something unnatural stirring right behind him.

"Damn it. I overreacted back there and completely forgot about how amazing I am. Panzer warp technology sure is something, isn't it? That Noco... one moment she's pestering me and the next she's helping me out! Haaah, but that's what girl pals are for, right?"

*Kritch. Pop.*

If Redmist heard right, that was the sound of knuckles being cracked.

"So! There's something you'd like to explain to me, right?"

(Ah. Mother. Father. I think I'll be joining you soon.)
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AYC
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by AYC »

Date: 8 Jun, Tuesday
Time: 12:30 pm
Weather: Rain, Dark Clouds
Location: Martin's House
PC: M
Other PC: Sophia
================


It takes M the entirety of twenty minutes to repair the small pair of holes marring the back of his sweater. He's even cricked his neck a few times in the process of twisting this way and that just trying to see his back in the bathroom mirror, and a few more times when he was actually in midst of repairing said holes.

Because seriously, it takes a shitload of concentration on his part to fix up his appearance due to his severe lack of spatial... imagination and whatnot. Especially when he can't really crane his neck well enough to see the area right between his shoulder blades, dammit.

The fact that a pouting Sophia had oh-so kindly decided to distract him a few times during his deep concentration mode had not helped much either. She must've been really annoyed with him for taking over Martin's computer - even his attempts to appease her with an offer to watch a new action cartoon with him had fallen flat in impressing her. No, really, what kind of kid doesn't like cartoons?

A cute, dead one, apparently. That can apparently shoot small bursts of heat from her eyes, OW.

...

... Yeah, how else could he have possibly gotten those burn holes on the back of his hoodie? Definitely not from just watching his beloved Tower of Draunest, nope.

But rather from a very irritated little ghost girl behind him.

From the looks of it, she still seems a bit sulky about how he had blatantly ignored her for his cartoon, albeit a bit more guilty about how he had to put so much effort in repairing what little damage she done. Actually, it makes M a little guilty about it too. Sort of.

Mostly it's just him feeling guilty about Sophia being guilty. Something like that.

Like honestly, it has been a few days since the two of them had the chance to meet each other, considering the raging downpour outside. Sanae had not been exactly thrilled to go out in the rain for reasons other than errands, and had been perfectly content with keeping in touch with Martin over the Go chatrooms and text messages. If that was anything to go by, it's likely that Martin had been the same, and poor Sophia would have had nothing better to do but watch goatee man play his god-forsaken Go and whatever.

And since she supposedly doesn't even like cartoons, she must've been absolutely bored out of her mind.

Because even with cartoons at Sanae's house, M sure had been terribly bored on his end of the town as well. You can only have so much fun marathoning all three seasons, two movies and six OVAs of the Anti-Hero... and sneaking around his new home with Sanae constantly giving his back pointed looks and exasperated sighs over two rainy days after all.

Yeah... the two of them could definitely use some fresh air and wandering around the drenched town. Hell, at least that's what he wants to do, now that his episode is over.

"Hey, Sophia, what do you say to getting a little exercise outside?"

The girl immediately perks up. Bingo.

"Really, Mr. Mad Hooder? Can we?"

Holy shit, he was right. Sophia has been even more depraved than he had been over the past few days. Must've been Martin's grouchy presence.

"Yeah, let's go. Not like the crappy weather outside does shit to us anyway."

Although Sophia bounces up and down in excitement, she stops herself for a moment to ask hesitantly, "Mr. Martin won't be mad, will he?"

Ever so considerate, huh? It's amazing how much a little energy and peppiness serves to differentiate her from a certain Japanese lady he's hanging around...

"Eh, I don't think he'll care if we just stick together. Personally, if fate decides to give Martin a damn for once, I wouldn't be surprised if he runs into Sanae along the way somewhere."

After all, M's pretty sure his Crosser had left earlier in the day to brave the storm outside for some sort of errand... or perhaps she had already started her teaching job? Something like that.

Still, it's fair game for Martin, wherever he's heading.

"Come on, let's head out. Where do you want to go, Sophia?"

"Hmm... ah! I want to look for Mr. Jacket! Maybe he's okay now..."

"Jacket, huh? Alright, let's go find him. And maybe when we do, we can mess w - I mean, ask him to walk with us too, right?"

"Okay!"

... Oh man. This is going to be fun.
Last edited by AYC on Sun Jul 24, 2011 8:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
Sentrovasi
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by Sentrovasi »

Date: 08/06 Tuesday
Time: 12:06 PM
Weather: Heavy
Location: Dawnview Park
PC: Threads

He didn't like the rain. It was just like that day. An ordinary, everyday weather condition; the cause of hydroplaning, bad visibility, loud noise and inattentive crowds; the very one which had been the basis of Lucifer's machinations.

Lucifer. He didn't like that name, either.

He sat in the park, worrying the scarf around his neck as he watched the raindrops splash into the fountain with alarming enthusiasm: had he not been incorporeal, the spatter would have left him as wet even had he an umbrella.

Had he been corporeal, he supposed, he would have been a lot more annoyed, considering the assortment of clothing he was wearing and the book he held under his arm.

There was no one here today, no real reason to be here. There was a limit to the irrational behaviour of Pebbleton's inhabitants: the rain was simply far too heavy for anybody to enjoy the park at all. Yet just a week ago, for no apparent reason, she had been here, a lone figure clutching an umbrella to her slight frame.

What had she meant, at the end? He looked into the fountain's waters, as though its clear ripples would provide him any answer. It was a little strange, looking into the water and seeing the reflection of the trees around him, broken by the rush of rain from above.

And he couldn't see himself at all.

What did he look like to her, he wondered. He turned from the fountain, his mind still filled with thoughts of that day. That rainy day.

He left the park, still in search of answers, but to questions that he weren't sure were the right ones anymore.

How things had changed, and yet hadn't.
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Pictor
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by Pictor »

http://www.rainymood.com/

Date: 8 Jun, Tuesday
Time: 1:10 PM
Weather: Really dark clouds. Heavy downpour. Lightning and thunder.
Location: ... Where was this?
PC: Jacket
================


The dark figure loomed silently upon the edge of tall roof overlooking another apartment building. Slowly, he hung his legs over the ledge and put a hand to his face, wiping away the drenching rain and clinging strands of hair from the hard and lifeless surface of his permanent mask.

"... What am I doing?"

Jacket had immediately rushed out into the relentless downpour without thinking. But the closer he got to his destination, the more he began to realize how poor his decision might have been. Letting his hands drop limply onto his lap, Jacket hunched over slightly in his seat. He had been keeping his eye on a particular window of the apartment just across the parking lot from the building he was perched upon. The light was on, and there seemed to be a commotion of shadows from within the room, but it was impossible to tell with the curtains drawn down.

Oh! Wait, could that be her? Did that mean she was safe?!

Jacket gripped the ledge of the building, perhaps about to take off, but just as he tensed up his body suddenly seized, completely and utterly on the spot.

"... Ungh... what's wrong? I need to go..." Jacket's voice trailed off as he realized the situation. Maybe it would have been more convenient to blame his sudden motor disorder on Ether deficiency. Yea, he had just woken up after all. Who knows how long he'd been out? And he had to do a lot of jumping to get where he was. It could just be his body failing to function.

But that would have been dirty dishonesty. In truth, the reason why he couldn't move was relatively simple.

He was frightened.

--scared--

What if it wasn't her behind those curtains? What if the sight he came upon was, instead, the scene of a grieving family? He wanted to check. He wanted to fly over there and make sure. But he couldn't. He was scared of what he might see.

"--Keh!!" With a frustrated grunt, Jacket slammed a fist down upon the ledge beside him. And just what was he expecting to accomplish by doing that? Did he expect the floor to chip and crumble beneath his incredible might? Heh, what a joke. He brought his hand back onto his lap once more. A thick, black substance poured from the side of his hand, trickling down his arms before vanishing into the dark, hazy air. The floor beside him bore not even a slight dent.

--angry--

[Weeell... bad news, girly! Boss's decree! Looks like I'm gonna have to kill ya.]

Jacket had been purposely, very deliberately, pushing away the flashbacks. But there, finally relenting to the reality as harsh and stinging as the wind and rain around him, he let it all come back.

He could remember, quite vividly, the voice who had uttered those words. They were cruel and vile, and calm and taunting. They came from someone who knew he had no chance of being touched. They came from some sick and twisted creature toying around with its prey.

[That was quite naughty, fragment. And you already know how I feel about naughty kids. Since I can't punish you... looks like one of your pals is gonna have to take the fall!!]

The endless raindrops beat against him like a hail of small, blunt bullets. He felt them, each and every one, as they struck against his body, forming tiny rivers than forked down his neck and back. And yet with each passing moment he grew increasingly numb to it all, as if the storm itself were made of anesthesia. The pain in his hand was already gone, though the wound was still flowing profusely.

--useless--

[How sweet. A knight in shining armor, eh? Can't say you exactly look the part, though.]

... How weak he was. And how stupidly bold and haughty he had been. These hands he boasted so proudly about ended up unable to do anything. The only thing he could accomplish in the end was throwing himself away to try to solve everything. But, looking back, maybe that's not what he aimed to do at all. Perhaps it was just a cowardly attempt to escape, disgustingly wrapped up within the guise of something he perceived as heroic.

--useless--

And he had the conceited gal to rush here in such a blind hurry, without any even any real resolve. Not only did he not know if she was really safe... he couldn't bring himself to make sure.

--how pathetic--

... But then again, maybe he didn't deserve to know. How could he? After barging into her life. He's a danger to everything just by being around. He didn't deserve to concern himself with another's life. Not her. Not anyone else, either.

--monster--

[The only reason I was ever going to fight that thing was because it's my fault you got dragged into this mess. I didn't want someone else to get hurt on account of me...]

He wanted to laugh.

--Ha ha ha ha--

[Right then, the Phantom Jacket Express is at your service, princess!]

Or maybe even cry.

--Boo hoo hoo hoo--

Something. Anything.

"...."

-- But nothing came. There was only a perforating numbness as heavy and dull as the clouds above. And despite the freezing tempest around him...

"... My mask... I can't feel anything anymore."

--succumb--

Ah. And he just realized one more thing.

He couldn't even bring himself to utter her name.

--deeper. to despair.--

If someone had been out in the rain, on the rooftop of a particular hotel building just then, they would have witnessed the curious and unsettling sight of The Phantom Jacket of Pebbleton, slowly being engulfed by thin ropes of writhing darkness.
Pasonia
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by Pasonia »

Date: 8 Jun, Tuesday
Time: Mid-afternoon
Weather: Thunderstorm
Location: Harbor Area -> Bus to Mall -> Telston Mall
PC: Martin Chang
Other PCs: -
NPCs: Lanette Hindfell, Lin


==========================

"It was a pleasure talking to you, Mr Chang. It was a shame we couldn't agree on terms."
"No, it's okay, Mr Santiago."
"If you have resolved your issues fully, Kranos Shipping welcomes you aboard. We need able administrators to help us along. We'll be in touch."


---------------

"...'I'm sorry, we can't hire you because your needs and our requirements don't match', huh... I guess that's what he was gonna say, but there's no point harping on it, eh..."

The rain didn't show any signs of letting up at all, as the bus trotted its way back up to the mall.
"I'm somewhat glad that the kid's there to help me look after Sophia."
The rain continued to pitter-patter, and Martin was about to doze off when he noticed a rather familiar person walking out of a hotel. Behind her was another lady, carrying a very elegant-looking parasol and trying to chase the person.

"I'm sure I've seen that-- wait a minute, isn't that the heroine wannabe lass...?!"

Martin thought for a bit. Lots of time on hand (albeit not quite wanted), out in town center for groceries, more than three hours before lessons at the CC starts. That, and the two ladies catching each other in the rain is a peculiar sight to say the least.

"This is interesting. I'm gonna see what they're up to."

He got off the bus in a huff, and sprinted for the pair.
It wasn't that hard to run after a brightly-colored brolly in the rain.

*****************

Martin rued over his cat's curiosity, getting all soaked down to his jeans as he turned at least three blocks of building in what was actually a U-turn.

"I solemnly swear, I didn't need to run after them only to end up in this part of the Mall... sheesh!"

Not too soon had he concluded so, he heard the ladies argue at the top of their voice.

Well, at least the younger one is.

"...And I'm telling you one last time, Lin! I am not going back to Hindfell Heights! I am not done yet! My mission is not over!"
"Young Miss, I simply cannot accept that! Your well-being is too crucial for us to leave to chance!"
"Oh, yea? Well, since when did you people bothered about everything I have done?"
"Young Miss, we simply cannot accommodate to every request you have..."
"That's a lie! An excuse! You will just leave me locked up in the Heights! As if you guys don't already do that..."
"Young Miss, you must understand we are doing this for your own good..."
"Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up, just shut up!"
"Young Miss---"
"ENOUGH WITH THE 'YOUNG MISS'! DON'T YOU KNOW WHEN TO STOP?!---"

Martin was struck by how adamant this woman - who now apparently seems to be some nanny, or caretaker in charge of Lanette - is at trying to get Lanette to go back where she belongs. To Martin, it didn't really matter if Lanette goes back, but one of the caretaker's statements struck him as odd, seeing he knew what happened just last Saturday afternoon.

It was also equally a surprise to Martin that in less than three, four days, the knocked-out, bruised-like-mad lass would be up and bouncing around in the rain. If he had sustained that kind of injury, he'd be flat on bed for weeks.

Out of a whim, he decides to gatecrash the party.

"HULLO! I see you're here, Miss Superhero!"
"..." Lin was unresponsive, but her eyes sent disapproving glares of this eavesdropping man she's never seen before.
Lanette, on the other hand, was absolutely spooked by Martin's appearance.
"Ack! Why are YOU here---?"
Martin thought the lass's reaction seems to be rather expected.
"I should be asking why you two ladies are having a round-about debate in this part of the Mall," cooed Martin, pretending to be nonchalant.

From the corner of his eyes, he spotted the caretaker switching his attention to him, tutting at him like he had committed some form of childish misdemeanor.

"Sir, if you would not mind? You are currently interfering in Hindfell family matters. I will have you know that you cannot afford us the well-being of our Young Lady enough, so please kindly leave."

Martin chortled. The mind battle has begun already, huh?

"Ah, easy, easy, Miss Caretaker, careful of those wrinkles. You know, you, well, get them easily when you're angry, right?"
"I use skincare products exclusively produced by the family's private skincare specialists. You do not need to worry."

Whoops, that there's a little mis-step. Then again, it shouldn't be too important, concluded Martin.

"Well, then, let's just say... I'm here to discredit you entirely," Martin blurted, taking the direct route with his argument. "Something you said about your 'Young Miss' does not match up; you should come up with a much better reason to have her return."

"Is that so, Mister? Then I kindly challenge you to discredit me in one stroke. I do not mistake my words, so do consider leaving us be if you run out of your time-wasting tricks---"

"'Your well-being is too crucial for us to leave to chance'... hmm..."

By the time Lin began to talk, Martin had already entered his focus mode, Lin's words rolling off of him as though he had heard nothing. He was careful not to over-tax his Ether on the ability, as he had previously.
The statement that struck him clearly echoed in his minds literally, but with a short lisp at the end he couldn't really figure out. It struck Martin as odd that such a simple statement would be lisped, as though there's some... guilt in it?

"Excuse me?" Both Lin and Lanette couldn't help but notice Martin's eyes going all blank, but Martin already had his arms raised over his mouth. Martin had done so on the pretense of wiping the rainwater off his forehead, but in fact he was actually covering up the spaced-out drooling.

"Haaaa----!" Martin consciously exits his video-memory focus, but not before trying to draw in more breathe than usual.
"Ah, I apologise for that. Anyway, you mentioned that your Young Miss Lanette's safety is of utmost concern to you, no?"
"Certainly so. Which means---"

It was Martin's turn to strike a gleeful tut.

"Hold your horses there, Miss Caretaker---"
"My name is Lin."
"Alright, Miss... Lin! Here's the deal!"
"I'm all ears, Mister...?"
"Call me Martin! Well, if you call yourself a caretaker and I'm your boss, I'd probably have fired you for failing on the job - shame on you!"
"Uh, come again...?"
"And you claim to be here for her well-being?" Martin raised his volume a little, jabbing a left thumb behind himself where Lanette stood.
"You really do? You think you do, don't you? At least I know that you don't!"
"If I may know... why?"

Martin grinned, while Lanette, having been nothing more than a spectator, prepared to flinch at a rather obvious answer that he assumed only the both of them knew.

"It's because your Young Miss Lanette was accosted by a rogue Panzer, getting all bruised and knocked out! And from what I know, you weren't there to take care of her!"
"Uh... Umm..."
"A bunch of us Crossers did just that for her! Isn't that right, Lanette?"
"Well, I... I..."
"So did you just say, uh, that her 'well-being is too crucial' to leave to chance? But you already took it, it didn't end well, and thus I say, the girl has every right to correct it by herself if you couldn't even intervene in something that must be so easy for you!"

Lin, who had expected Martin to have quietly taken his leave, was suddenly dumbfounded.
"T-That's... under the circumstances... A commoner such as yourself wouldn't understand..."
"Oh, for effin' real, Miss Lin? But you know, everything I said was nothing but the truth."

Lin didn't want to admit it at all, but Martin was absolutely spot-on. Even though she didn't blurt any of it - to Lin's credit, she did have a lot of self-blame to deal with - Martin heard the same lisp and saw the same guilty look on her face as she did earlier.
Losing her rational side, she scowled at Martin for making her job much more difficult than it should really have been, giving the goatee Crosser her most condescending, despising look.

"Kuh... silence, you common outsider. The Young Miss is returning home---"

This was when Martin broke into a big, wide, cheesy grin, serving to only irk Lin further.

"Oh, oops, I don't quite know what happened... well, she just left as we spoke, so she won't be returning 'home' quite yet."
Martin smirked, pointing at the empty space where Lanette was. He knew Lanette had wanted to slip away from Lin, and he had already achieved the best outcome for Lanette possible.
This 'best outcome' is the worst for Lin, who had spent a full day tracking down Lanette's whereabouts. With this, she has to redo everything all over again. Naturally, her composure vanished, if for but a few moments.
"Why, you---! Why, YOU---"

"Why do I do what I did?" Martin scoffed at Lin haughtily.
"It's because you people of richie riches like to trample on others' freedom too much. Would you spare a second to even listen to anyone who just wants freedom?"

Martin raised out his right hand towards Lin, but slowly turned his body away from her. He gestured a thumbs-up with his right hand, then slowly tilted it upside-down in a flick of distasteful mockery, that would eventually have the caretaker stomp off in a fit.

"I guess not! I'll see you around, Miss Epic-Fail-Caretaker. I have stuff that concerns 'common outsiders' to take good care of!"
Last edited by Pasonia on Thu Jul 28, 2011 11:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by AYC »

Date: 8 Jun, Tuesday
Time: 1:10 pm
Weather: Thunderstorm
Location: White Waters
PC: M
Other PC: Sophia
================


Well, shit.

Not that he had thought the dude had actually died or anything, but M hadn't really been expecting to find Jacket at all. Like seriously, from what he's heard from Sophia and Co., it's not likely that some guy, dead or no, would be able to get up and kicking in a mere two days. That's either some crazy stamina, or some amazing healing item.

But there he is.

... Sitting on the top of White Waters Suites.

How did he get up there?

To be honest, he probably wouldn't have even noticed had Sophia not stopped him, telling him that she had overheard Jacket's thoughts nearby.

And well, lookie there, there he was. It's amazing how many people wouldn't have thought to look up at times like this.

The only thing stopping them from a beautifully teary reunion in the rain, however, was that something certainly abnormal was going on up there. After all, M's pretty sure that a Stray - a physical one, no less - drenching himself in this downpour, alone on the top of a tall building, getting surrounded by weird smoky shadow things did not do those aforementioned things as if it was perfectly normal.

Especially not that last part.

Even Sophia, who could not see what was going on, and even M, who could not hear the inner turmoil in Jacket's mind, knew exactly what was unfolding up on the lonely roof of a small skyscraper.

WELL, SHIT.

It doesn't take any cue from Sophia to get M into action right away, and in an instant, he wraps his shadows around them - the next, Sophia is stumbling towards the bulky black form sitting on the edge with M hot on her heels.

"Mr. Jacket! Mr. Jacket!"

Up closer, the guy looks a lot worse than he'd have expected - sure, he's surprisingly not injured in any way, but with damp hair plastered to the upper half of his face and a mask completely devoid of emotion, Jacket looks like pretty despondent shit. Not to mention that he's like totally naked without his trademark hat or jacket. And yeah, those weird black ether tendrils surrounding him don't look particularly inviting either.

M not-so subtly walks up behind the other Stray and jabs a finger at his muscled shoulder. "Hell, man, you sure know how to pick places to mope around at."

And oddly enough, there's no response. Huh.

Sophia manages to make her way to Jacket's side, and tugs his arm to get his attention. "Mr. Jacket?"

She even uses her cutest, inner-nii-san-inducing eyes on him, to no avail. Either he's gone off the deep end, or he's completely trapped inside his thoughts. Judging from the smoke show he's got around him though, M would probably put his bets on the latter.

"Dude, the hell are you sulking around for? You're looking pretty pathetic right now."

M's not too sure what he was trying to get at himself with that comment, but it does little to whip the Stray into shape. In fact, it almost looks like the negative ether around him actually got a little denser. Sophia even has to back off a little to avoid being struck by a angry looking shadow tendril.

Crap.

"Hey... you can read thoughts, Sophia. Wanna give me a hand here?"

"Mr. Mad Hooder... I think he's worried about Madam Mirto."

His Crosser, huh. Makes sense.

M picks up a stray piece of rock from the roof and chucks it at Jacket's head as a shoddy attempt to get his attention. Whether or not it actually works, he can't really tell, but the guy's skull does jerk forward, and the rock gets stuck in Jacket's head of wet, spiky hair.

Hey, if the rock can make it through Jacket's thick skull, then so can they. With their words, that is.

"Alright, Jacket, show's over. I think you've done enough already - I mean, you've already brought Sophia close to tears - "

At this, Sophia gives him a briefly scandalized look, as if saying, I wasn't about to cry yet, Mr. Mad Hooder!

" - what kind of person could you be, to do something like that? Honestly. If you're so worried about your Crosser, why don't you just go and find her? She's perfectly fine, we even escorted her and her friend to her home and everything - "

By this point, the cloud of darkness around Jacket seems to have gotten more intense and much denser around him. Actually, the rock that M had tossed before is even violently ejected from within the smog and cuts off the Stray in question with a very rough and painful cuff to the shoulder.

"OW, what the hell was that for?!"

"Uuu... Mr. Mad Hooder, I think you made him angry..."

"Ugh... you sure he was even listening in the first place?"

Sophia ponders this for a moment, before letting out a dejected sigh.

"Probably not..."
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by marcien »

Date: 8 Jun, Tuesday
Time: 1316
Weather: Noisy emo rain, still
Location: Block 44 #12-108
PC: Z. Redmist
Other PCs: Hailey, Jacket
================


His instincts would have liked him to stand up to stand up and increase the distance between him and the source of his misery. But the vile creature had cut off even the smallest route of escape for him. With her hands claws on the armrest of each side of his office chair, her body bent over, her head and wet hair (and feathers) were hanging directly above his head, and rainwater/drool was dripping onto his face. It was like the scene out of some demon-possession exorcist movie. Redmist felt genuinely amazed at his own resilience. He wondered how he had managed to accommodate something so foul constantly haunting him like this for past several years.

Perhaps it would be interesting to suddenly snap back at her for her continual maltreatment of him. But of course, that would be rather out-of-character for him to do so. Besides, he knew that no matter what Hailey behaved like towards him, she would never really harm him physically. He had done her no wrong after all. Right? Then again, Hailey Geminesca was never one to adhere to common logic. Sigh.

"Don't you know, that when someone entrusts you with their pet, you're supposed to take good care of it?" she snarled, "So then, what shall I do with you? Or maybe, one of your precious things?"

That detestable avian is definitely enjoying herself. Well, time to bring out the fallback. He sent a bluetooth signal from his cerebellum to one of his computers. It started up from stand-by mode and a screen switched on to display what looked like a graphical map of the town, and a chart with a linegraph with a few sets of lines. The red line was slowly, exponentially, increasing along the y-axis every thirty seconds.

"What the fuck are you trying to say, house rat?" she had gotten off his armrest like he hoped she would to take a closer look at the screen. [Phantom Jacket], read the heading. A wireless sensor on Jacket to monitor him? Rather useful, Hailey had to admit. This house rat can be rather resourceful and innovative when he wants to be. If only he did not waste his efforts on trying to barricade himself against her.

With the accursed bird finally away from him, Redmist was at ease to speak. "The green value indicates the ether output. The red value indicates the emotional stability. If the red value rises above a hundred, the stray is liable to turn into a blight."

"And it's at... a 126 now?!"

"A hundred and twenty-six point seven. By the way, the blue value indicates the amount of self-concept. And the purple--"

"I'm not interested in that!!"

"The blinking red dot on the map indicates his location."

"Godammit."
[img]http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/1452/assignment23.jpg[/img]
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by SavviG »

Date: 8 Jun, Tuesday
Time: 11:16 pm
Weather: Thunderstorm/heavy rain
Location: Graciels Home
PC: Graciel Flay
Other PC: ???
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Graciel slumped on to the couch, almost spilling his hot chocolate. The living room is dark with darker shadows looming in all corners of the room. Thick shadow lines were produced from the TV light.

Graciel looked out of the window and watched the heavy rain pour down on the street. Thunder boomed now and then.

Graciel turned back to the TV, sipped the hot chocolate. The morning news didn't show anything that interest him. He lifted his foot onto the remote on the table to flip the channels.

'oh, this is interesting.' says a voice. Graciel thought it was the TV. 'I like cartoons.' came the voice again. This time he paid no attention.

20mins later the cartoon ended. The mug is empty and Graciel popped open the MPUD screen. No mail.

'Oh, floating hologram screens! Never would've see one in my life time!' came the voice besides Graciel.

Graciel looked down on the sofa, there it sat, black, staring right back into Graciel. It sat besides him the whole time, watching TV together. '... you!'

Graciel magically produced his handgun and tried to point the muzzle at the black cat but it was already gone. 'Don't shoot!' wailed the Blight cat.

'Crap, I have a infestation... the HQ ain't gonna be happy that I'm living with a Blight... pet... kitty thing...'

(No wonder why my milk half spilled!)

On the other hand, a Blight that spoke, infact, sentient. Blights are mindless beings so how was this one different?

The voice came about again. "Um, don't shoot me okay? I'm coming out..."
Graciel sees a small figure jumping on onto the coffee table. It stood very still. Graciel inched back to a doorway and flipped the lights on. There on the table, a black cat with a dirty torn yellow material wrapped around its right paw.

As Graciel has suspected, its part of Jacket's old jacket. Might have absorbed some of his Ether? Is so, how did Jackets Ether make this little Blight come ... alive. Also, Back then, I could've sworn it got ran over too...

'How come you can talk?!' asks Graciel while still pointing the gun at his own coffee table.
"I sorta just did? I remember trying to eat this ... cloth". It raised its right paw and waved it in circles. "And I can't really talk, I sorta just... do it by thought alone. It seems only you can hear me..."

Graciel wondered if it ate his Ether aswell when he slept.

'Either way, I may have to bring it back to HQ, maybe the scientists back there can do something with it... I may get a good praise or something...'

'Aye! I heard that! Nya!'

'It can't be helped... I gotta report this.' Graciel brought up his MPUD, and the Blight Kitty begin to claw down his leg begging him to stop.

'PLEEEEAAAAAAAAASE NOOOOooooyyyaaa...' T_T
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by AYC »

(Okay, so I kind of lied. Sorry Paso, but I just couldn't resist.)

Date: 8 Jun, Tuesday
Time: 12:45 pm
Weather: Thunderstorm
Location: Telston Mall
PC: Mirto
Other PC: Martin
NPCs: Lanette, Lin
================


The sound of an argument coming from nearby doesn't do a particularly good job of piquing her curiosity at all. She's never really cared for the problems going on in the lives of others, after all. These things usually work out on their own, anyway.

But when Mirto overhears something that sounds like "Crosser" and "Panzer", she immediately looks up and squints through the rack of magazines by the door for the source. Her lips press into a thin line when she realizes who it is.

Oh. It's Lanette and Miss Lin. That explains why she vaguely recognized the voices.

... And that one guy. She's not quite so sure who he is, but she does recognize him.

The three of them seem to be bantering about something - or, at least, Lin and the man seem to be. Mirto notices that Lanette also seems to be slowly inching away, as if preparing to make a quick getaway while her caretaker is being distracted by the rather vigorous conversation she looks to be having.

At the moment, the debate looks kind of one-sided. Lin appears to be at a loss for words, while her opponent is on a roll, with a weirdly triumphant look on his face. Um... what kind of conversation could they be having, for him to relish winning so much...?

"A bunch of us Crossers did just that for her!"

Although Mirto still doesn't quite get what's going on on the other side of the glass window, she is struck by the jarring memory of who the man appeared to be.

It's... that one... person. Sophia's... Crosser, was it?

Something along those lines.

To be honest, Mirto is a bit more surprised at how he's actually rambling about this ether business out in the open. Like... seriously? It's not that there was anything that said talking about this stuff in public was like taboo or anything... but it's kind of like in bad taste. Or worse, what if some sort of malicious organization have bugged Pebbleton and are using dropped ether sensitive words to track people? It's like... a milder, more sci-fi-ish version of Harry Potter and name-dropping You-Know-Who. (Nah, it's just Redmist.)

... Yeah, in the end she's probably just overthinking it all. But it doesn't really stop Mirto from thinking to herself that it is rather foolish to be talking about this stuff in a place like the Telston Mall, and so loudly as well.

I hope it's just a one time thing.

Because it's not really her cup of tea, to bring up something like Crossers and Strays in an open place like this. Maybe she's just paranoid. She can blame her last job for that.

The conversation outside seems to have transferred some of its steam to Lin by now in the form of frustration. Judging by how Lanette seems to be nowhere to be seen and the wide grin on her opponent's face, it looks like Lin had lost the argument.

Wow, that sucks.

Although she can't really blame Lanette for wanting to get away, she does feel a bit sorry for Lin.

But, I suppose it can't be helped...

Mirto flinches slightly at the thumbs-up, thumbs-down gesture Sophia's Crosser makes, and winces even more at what he says next:

"I guess not! I'll see you around, Miss Epic-Fail-Caretaker. I have stuff that concerns 'common outsiders' to take good care of!"

Um... what?

Even though she doesn't want to judge someone like this, that was probably the most... um, borderline childish thing she's ever seen a grown man do. Regardless of the context, it's just kind of... tactless and... ew.

Mirto briefly considers the idea of going out there and shaking the man who must've lost it to say and do something so unbecoming in public.

...

But Mirto values her job and her pay too much to do it.

So she just sighs, picks up her now empty crate of soft drinks, and heads back to the stock room. She'll have to figure some other way to rid herself of the trauma she's just had the misfortune to witness.

I'm going to go rinse my eyes out now, thanks.
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by Pictor »

Date: 8 Jun, Tuesday
Time: 1:12 PM
Weather: Thunderstorm
Location: White Waters
PC: Jacket
Other PC: Makoto, Sophia
================


Hurt.... Danger. Threats. From outside.

A dull pain seared across the Blight's shoulders. Something was aiming to harm it.

Defend... Attack... Escape... Fight, or flight...? Fight or flight?

A flurry of instincts danced in its head. Slowly, the Blight stood to its feet and lumbered around to identify its attackers.

---!!

Something... interesting...! Yes... this was... food?

"HAaaaaAAaaah....!"

With a hollow cry, Jacket lunged forth and lashed out a dark tendril at a pair of Strays in front of him. Luckily, Makoto was able to push Sophia's head down - along with his own - just in time to duck under the assault.

Food... what to do with... food? What is... "food" for?

"Dammit, he's too far gone! Sophia we've gotta get out of he- huh? Makoto soon realized he was talking to nobody, as the girl had already wrestled free from his grasp and was dashing toward the enraged Jacket. "What are you doing?!"

"No, Mr. Jacket! Please, stop! You remember me don't you? It's Sophia!

Uuuugh... voice... saying... something?

"Geh... Grrraaauuugh...."

Jacket responded to Sophia's pleas with two more tendrils aimed in her direction.

"Leave her alone!" Before Sophia could realize it, Makoto had her in his arms again. This time, they had tumbled inside of a haphazard, last-minute ball of shadows.

Food gone...? Where? ... Can't move. Can't move!

Meters away, the pair re-emerged from the shadows behind a large ventilation unit. Peering out, Makoto saw that the tendrils were planted firmly into the concrete, with Jacket struggling to remove them.

"C-Crap... are those made of metal too? Of all the people to morph into a Blight... it just had to be this asshole, didn't it?!"

Under his arms, Makoto could feel his partner struggling to break free, but he wasn't going to let her waltz into her doom that easily a second time.

"Stop it, Sophia! We've gotta get out of here!"

"No! I have to help him! I have to help Mr. Jacket!"

"Forget about him! Did you not see the way he tried to fillet the two of us?! There's nothing you can do, he doesn't even recognize us anymore!"

"No... that's not true, Mr. Mad Hooder! I could still hear him... he sounded very tired and confused, but I could still hear Mr. Jacket's thoughts!"

"Sophia, that's...-

"I don't want to see anyone else hurt! And right now... Mr. Jacket is hurting a lot... I can feel it! And you said... we were gonna get him to walk with us..." Oriole stared back at Makoto with the strongest, most determined expression he's ever seen her put on. Of course... there's no way he could turn down that face. Makoto heaved a sigh that he had a sinking feeling might his last.

"... Darnit. What am I getting myself into this time...?" Carefully, Makoto peered out from their hiding place once more. Jacket was still attempting to pull his tendrils free from the rooftop. It seemed they get stuck rather deep. And it doesn't appear that he's noticed their new location just yet. "Well... he's still an idiot as ever, that's for sure... But what do we do? He's not gonna just sit still for a conversation. And as much as I hate to admit it, he's far too brawny for me to subdue. But Sophia, you might be able to..."

"I-I'm not barbequing anyone! Especially not Mr. Jacket!"

"... Wha? I didn't say anythi-"

"I can hear your thoughts too, Mr. Mad Hooder..."

"... Oh yea."

Well then, now what?
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by AYC »

(The End. Rainy Day Adventure, Go!)

Date: 8 Jun, Tuesday
Time: 1:13 PM
Weather: Thunderstorm
Location: White Waters
PC: M
Other PCs: Jacket, Sophia
================


M doesn't realize it at first, but that weird, boiling feeling in his chest? It feels a lot like him getting increasingly more frustrated. And that pounding sensation in his head? Yeah, it's definitely him getting pissed.

Apparently the borderline Jacket-blight finally seems to have realized that he could've just summoned more tendrils to fight back instead of attempting to dislodge the two that he's already used - unfortunately, this revelation has both him and Sophia scrambling around the rooftop in messy, skittering motions.

Fun.

"What are we going to do Mr. Mad Hooder?"

Sophia looks up at him with a rather pained expression. Dammit, he knows he's gotta be out of his mind to even think about fighting Jacket in a straight up match, but he also knows that Sophia really doesn't want to hurt the guy herself.

On the other side of the roof, the Stray in question seems to be not-so-silently heaving to himself, clearly disoriented by their movements. As if Jacket wasn't enough of a meathead before, his Blight variation is even more so. Just less talkative.

"Crap... I have like no cards to use Sophia."

Using his shadows to move him somewhere else is out of the question. And there's no one to seek help from either - Martin would pull out his Go-tactical shit on the two of them, and after the goatee man's last mishap, M can't put his faith on that man quite so soon. M doesn't want to admit it, but Sanae would be unable to provide any helpful assistance in this kind of situation either. In fact, she would probably make it worse.

The most plausible solution would be actually to find Jacket's beloved ex-Crosser. But it's not like he even knows where in the bloody town that girl could be, especially in this weather -

Wait a second. What's that behind him?

"Hey, Sophia... do you remember where it was we dropped off Jacket's Crosser Saturday?"

"Eh? Um... wasn't it White... Wat -"

"White Waters Condominiums, right?" M cracks a sardonic grin. "Look what's behind us."

Sophia's eyes go wide with realization. "Ah! Madam Mirto lives around here!"

If Jacket wasn't prowling around near by, M would have laughed. "Exactly. In fact, what's there to say that the window he was staring at before isn't his Crosser's?"

"Oh!"

"I've got a plan Sophia. Go get him."

At this, a brief flicker of worry flashes across her face, but M cuts her off before she can say anything.

"You won't have to hurt him. Just bring him over here. I'll take care of the rest."

Although Sophia still looks a bit unsure, she nods. "Okay..." Despite the hesitation in her voice, the resolution is definitely in her eyes, and M ruffles her hair playfully.

"You can do it. Just be careful."

"Mmhmm..."

M makes a dash to his target window as Sophia stands and calls out to the blightifying Stray - "Mr. Jacket! Mr. Jacket, over here!"

M can't quite see what's happening behind him anymore, but the dull thunk he hears sounds like Sophia threw a rock at him to get his attention. And if he's guessing correctly, that weird scraping sound is actually Jacket dragging his metal tendrils as he turns around to face his attacker.

Crap. Hopefully he's not going to screw this up.

He lands on the correct balcony just as his ears pick up a angry growl and a sharp whooshing sound, as if it's he's just sent a sharp metal whip (or a dozen) in Sophia's direction -

"HEY JACKET! HERE'S YOUR FREAKING CROSSER!"

M pulls the curtain open as he turns to face the rabid Stray, and gulps at the sight of Sophia backed to the very edge of the building, a steel spike nearly about to skewer her in the chest.

Shit.

But to his merit, at least Jacket seems to have completely stopped. Or rather, it actually looks like he's frozen stiff from shock, his eye sockets wide open and all.

Oh snap. Did it actually work?

Curious, M chances a look over his shoulder, and blinks at the sight of a relatively young couple huddled together in the kitchen... baking cookies?

"I wish you would be more careful dear. Now we have eggshells in the dough!"

"Ah, I'm sorry. You know cooking is not my forte..."

"It's okay dear! What you lack in expertise you make up with love!"

...

What the hell is this? Briefly, he wonders if he had seriously made a mistake - rather than a serious-looking teenage girl, he gets a rather portly, bespectacled man and his petite-looking wife. Making cookies on a rainy day, of all things.

... Whut.

"Careful with the white chocolate, dear, you know Mirto doesn't like them very much..."

"Ah, I wonder if she'll bring over Lanette and Miss Lin today as well. Company is always nice."

"It's good that she's making some friends. Now if only she'd get more affectionate with Presson..."

No, seriously, what the hell is going on? Slowly, M turns back towards the nearby rooftop, praying that hopefully - hopefully - Sophia hadn't been impaled while he was busy gawking at the rather innocent, cheesy exchange of a married couple.

"Mr. Mad Hooder?"

M realizes he must look pretty retarded right now. With a cough, he straightens up and notices that Sophia is perfectly fine, and is actually struggling to hold an increasingly subdued-looking Jacket by the shoulders. The metal tendrils seem to have been reduced to a small pool of ether around the bulky Stray by now, and underneath the wet pieces of hair, M can see that his eye seems to have rolled up in its socket.

Well. Looks like the guy's finally calmed down. Even if all he saw was a couple have some lovey-dovey time over baked goods.

Ugh, whatever.

The pair inside the apartment notice the drawn curtains just as M wearily shadows himself back to the top of the hotel. Without so much as a reservation, he shoves Jacket off of Sophia's tiny form and into a crumpled heap on his back, while M drops himself into a sitting position next to the two Strays.

"Ah! Mr. Jacket - !"

"Don't worry about it Sophia, he'll be fine. He's probably just resting."

"But - "

"Urgh..."

Dammit. So much for resting, shit.

The two of them are frozen as Jacket sits up, rubbing the back of his neck and reorienting himself. "Argh... what's going on?"

With a straight face, M exchanges a look with Sophia.

"So you wanna go on that walk now?"
Last edited by AYC on Sun Aug 07, 2011 6:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Pictor
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by Pictor »

Date: 8 Jun, Tuesday
Time: 1:17 PM
Weather: Thunderstorm -> Slightly Lighter Rain
Location: White Waters
PC: Jacket
Other PC: Makoto, Sophia
================


"Wait, so you're saying that..."

"Yea. And you tried to off us. You really don't remember?"

"No way... that's... Jacket paused and slumped a metal railing on the side of the roof. He sunk his face into his palms. Despite having been running for dear afterlife from this guy mere minutes ago, Makoto couldn't help but feel a small twinge of pity for the guy.

"Mr. Jacket... don't blame yourse-

"- Retarded." Jacket abruptly looked back up at Makoto with finger raised, as if making some kind of a profound statement.

"... Huh?"

"I'm saying that's completely retarded." The masked Stray hopped up onto the railing, placed his hands on his waisted and puffed out his chest. "Hah, as if I'd fall for a dumb trick like that. Me? Turning into a Blight? What kind of joke is that?"

Makoto then promptly proceeded to mentally jettison himself into a vat of molten lead for even having the mere sentiment of feeling sorry for this asshole. Never again. Never, ever again.

"... Yea. Haha... we sure thought we could get you... you fucking moron" Well, at the very least he seems to have forgotten all about the incident.

"Uh..." Oriole tilted her head slightly as she watched Jacket deep in thought, scratching his chin.

"Um. Mr. Jacket, are you okay?"

"Er, yea. It's just- Wait. Don't call me 'Mister' okay? It sounds lame and old."

"... Oh. R-Really?" Jacket hopped down from the railing and stooped to Sophia's level, placing a soggy hand on her hair (not that it mattered to an ethereal spirit).

"Yea, kinda! Just 'Jacket' is fine. Or better yet, call me 'big brother' instead, okay?"

"Okay! Big bro- Before Sophia could step beyond the threshold of no return, Makoto stepped, rather roughly, between her and Jacket.

"No! Not okay. Keep calling him whatever it was you called him. Sheesh!"

"Oh ho... what's the matter? Jealous? Why don't you go ahead and call him 'big brother' too, kiddo? I'm sure that'd make him pretty excited."

"Really? Would that make you happy, Mr. Mad Hooder, if I call you big br-

"As if! Stop listening to this guy talk! Damn, I knew it was a bad idea to come looking for him.

"Eh? You guys were looking for me? Why?"

"Yes, Mr. Jacket! We were worried about you...

"-- She was. I tagged along because I was worried about what she would find. Good thing I did." Of course, Makoto didn't really say that out loud, as much as he wanted to. Jacket paused and crossed his arms, looking to the sky raining skies and sighing loudly.

"Saaay, you guys wouldn't happen to know what I was doing here, would you?

"You... don't remember, Mr. Jacket? Upon Sophia's inquiry, Jacket laughed nervously and switched from scratching his chin to scratching his head.

"Haaah, well it's kinda embarrassing to admit, but... yea, I'm drawing a blank here. It's really a bit of a blur...

"Ah! Well, I think you were looking for Madam Mir--" For a second time, Makoto dashed into the fray, quickly slapping a hand over Sophia's mouth. She was looking a bit too glad to help out there.

"-- Trouble! You were looking for trouble like always, you idiot! Sophia was worried that you might have gotten your head stuck in a fume pipe or something so we had to come looking for you in case you needed your ass saved!"

"What?! Shut up! No one asked you! Like I'd need your help for something so stupid. I could pull myself out of a pipe if I ever got stuck in one. Or I'd just smash it open... though, that'd probably get me in trouble... As Jacket mumbled to himself Makoto took Sophia by the shoulders, set her aside and drew her within whispering level.

"Listen... it's better if you didn't mentioned what just happened. He might go berserk again. That's the last thing we want."

"Oh... sorry. I wasn't thinking again, was I, Mr. Mad Hooder?"

"Uh, well, I get that you're worried about him. So, let's keep this between us, 'kay?" Sophia responded by nodding firmly.

"Okay, big brother!"

"O-Oi... didn't I say not to call me tha-

"Ah! Look!" Makoto diverted his attention to where Sophia was eagerly pointing.

"Hey... check that out! The weather's clearing up! Uh... how long has it been storming for, anyway?"

Sophia floated happily toward the left side of the roof through the steadily thinning rain. On the horizon, a single ray of sunlight had broken through the thick clouds, casting a bright beam down on the town.

"Wow! It's so pretty!"

"Whoa, that's kinda weird. Even though it's still rather stormy everywhere else... Rare things like this do happen, huh?"

================

Above and behind the trio, perched atop the ventilation unit was a single black raven.

"Aw nuts. Looks like I'm gonna have to break up a happy moment."
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by SavviG »

Date: 8 Jun, Tuesday
Time: 11:30 pm
Weather: Rain
Location: Graciels Home
PC: Graciel Flay
Other PC: Black cat
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The cat begged and pawed Graciels leg. It climbed up the leg, eye kept contact with Graciels.

'puulllliiiizzzzz... I'll do anything!' squeeked the cat.

Graciel peered down from the MPUD screen. A smile appeared, sinister looking too. 'hmm... anything, you say?'. The cat froze, mouth gaped open... this was like something out of a manga or book.

'Anything? can you sense other blights?' The cat gaze now looked away.
'maybe...'

'Good. I'm bored, lets go hunting shall we?'
'In the rain?!' The cat jumping back in defence.
Or do you want to visit the labs?
'Anything is better than labs I suppose.'
'What can you do?'
'I don't think I can do anything in particular ... may feel the presence of other blights within range I suppose.'
*Blip*
'What did you do?'
'Sent a email.'
'WE HAD A DEAL!!'
'No worries, they're good people.'

[Mail]
To: Noco, Cassius
cc:
Subject: Blight Cat
Hello,
I got this Blight cat who is trailing me around. It seems like it had eaten some of Jacket's Ether residue. It may have ate some of mine. I can communicate with it in cat psych or something. Do you think I can keep it?

Graciel
P.S I named him Blacky.

~~~~~~~~~~~
Time: 1:00 pm
Weather: Rain
Location: Lighthouse
PC: Graciel Flay
Other PC: Blacky
~~~~~~~~~~~


Up on the lighthouse top, two cats sat perked overlooking Pebbleton.
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Pictor
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by Pictor »

Date: 8 Jun, Tuesday
Time: 1:37 PM
Weather: Raining
Location: Riverside Walk: Alleyway
PC: Jacket, Hailey
Other PC: Makoto, Sophia
================


"Haha, you said we were going for a walk, but even during a storm, there aren't exactly many places I could just waltz around in the open."

"Uuuu... sorry. I didn't think of that at all..."

"Hey don't get upset, Sophia. It's not your fault this guy's a freak of nature!"

"Yea! It's not your fault that I'm a freak of na- What'd you say?!

"Got a problem with the truth?!

"Ooooh~! Stop, don't fight~!

----------------------------

Time: 1:45 PM
Weather: Raining
Location: Materion Square
================


"You know, despite it being smack dab in the middle of the business district, I'm always surprised as how empty this place is."

"You do know the rumors, right? Apparently this place was built on top of an old cemetery. So naturally there's rumors about ghosts and crap.

"G-Ghosts?! Oh... you... you don't think they'll get us, do you, Mr. Mad Hooder?"

"Ungh... It's a good thing I'm dead. Can't get diabetes this way."

"For once, I'm inclined to agree with you.

----------------------------

Time: 2:16 PM
Weather: Raining
Location: Fukami Mansion: Gates
================


"Wow. We ended up all the way here, huh?" Plopping down out of sight behind a flowery hedge, Jacket took the time to brush some of the rainwater out of his hair.

"I'm shocked we managed to get all the way here without having you spotted. Shit like that could get on the news, you know." Makoto's snide remark promptly produced a sour expression on Jacket's face. Mirto had chewed him out enough for that ruckus he caused that time.

"Shaddap!" Jacket snapped grumpily as he went back to wringing out his hair.

"Oh... please don't fight again! From the corner, Sophia came dashing back, ready to jump between the two in the event of another kerfuffle.

"Nah. I'm just poking fun, don't worry. Anyway, Sophia... since we came this far already, don't you think we ought to be getting back?"

"Eh? Really? B-But..." Sophia looked in Jacket's direction with worried eyes. Catching her concern, Jacket quickly hopped up onto his feet, walked over to her and placed a gentle hand on her head.

"Hey. Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself."

"But just now, Mr. Jacket, you-- Ah!" Sophia caught herself before she spouted something disastrous. She glanced quickly in Makoto's direction, who responded with a subtle shake of his head. Two against one, the little golden-haired Stray could only pout helplessly. "Hmmmm..."

"I'll be fine. Really! Besides, you have a Crosser partner now, don't you?" Sophia perked up, as if suddenly remembering something important.

"Ah! Mr. Martin! Oh no, we didn't tell him about our walk!"

"You'd better get back to him quick, huh? If you're partners, you should always be there for each other. No matter what."

"...."

Jacket removed his hand from Sophia, only to have her grab it rather forcefully into her own.

"T-Then you have to promise, Mr. Jacket! Promise you won't get in trouble again!"

Not expecting such an outburst from Sophia, Jacket was stunned for a moment. Then, he gave a firm thumbs-up and tried his best to smile.

"Of course! It's a promise!

----------------------------

Time: 2:19 PM
Weather: Raining
Location: Fukami Mansion: Gates
================


Jacket stood as he watched the two make their way into the rain, waiting until they were completely out of sight.

"She's real worried about you. Don't let her down."

The annoying idiot had said that to him with a pretty serious tone just before they left. Jacket didn't give a reply, but perhaps that was because it wasn't something he could answer to anyone else for. It was something he could only demand of himself.

"Now then..." Whipping around, Jacket spoke firmly to the seemingly empty streets around him. "You've been following me for awhile now, haven't you. There's no point in hiding, I know you're there.

"Wow. I've never seen anyone try so hard to be cool. From somewhere above, a small black bird fluttered down and perched itself on a sign post near the masked Stray.

"Panzer!"

"I'm surprised though, that you knew I was here.

"... I sensed some of my own Ether on you..." Jacket backed away slowly and threw his guard up, not letting the stranger out of his sight for even a second.

"Oh, relax. I'm not with the disgusting, stab-happy moron who messed you up."

"Y-You know about that?! Who are you then...?

"Oh, nobody special. The black bird took off from the its perch, and hovered over to the nearby brick wall lining the Fukami Mansion gates. With a puff of black feathers, a dark-haired woman appeared where the bird once was. "... Just your personal savior, that's all.

"... Hah? Jacket, with his guard still up, tilted his head in confusion. The woman on the ledge pressed a couple of buttons on a device on her wrist and materialized an umbrella out of thin air. Jacket watched as she struggled a bit to get it open before continuing on with her speech.

"Eh well, 'save' might not be the right word. It makes me sound too nice. Rather, I fished you out of the raging seas and spend a good couple of days bringing your sorry, mangled ass back from the brink of oblivion."

"Uh... r-really?"

"How did you think you got healthy enough to run around and be an idiot like this?

"Well, if you put it that way... 'saving' does sound like the right word, actually. But..." For obvious reasons, Jacket still wasn't convinced.

"What, don't believe me? Can't exactly blame you, I guess, with all the shit you've gone through. Take a look there. Your chest." The woman pointed a finger toward him.

"The hell you talking about...?" Following her instructions, Jacket traced his fingers along the middle of his chest, and was surprised to find a strange metal socket embedded into his body.

"W-WHAT THE HELL?! When'd this get here?!"

"It's the adapter for this thing." Again, from out of nowhere, the Panzer woman produced a strange device that resembled an oversized thumbtack with several lights at on the "head". Without warning, she tossed the object in Jacket's direction. "Here. Catch."

Jacket clumsily reacted to the suddenly delivery by fumbling the device in his hands -threatening several times to drop it- before finally clutching it safe in his grip. He stared cluelessly at the glowing panels on the foreign thing.

"... Okay? What's this supposed to be, then?"

"It used to be a fuel canister for energy-based Panzer weaponry. But for the past few days it's what's been keeping you alive. Heh, well, as alive as you'll ever be anyway. If you connect it to yourself, you'll understand what I mean." Jacket stared at the object and the long, dangerous-looking spike that came with it for a bit before he realized what the Panzer woman was getting at.

"Wait, you expect me to stab myself with this thing? What do you think I am, some kind of moron? This is the most obvious trap I've ever seen!" The woman sighed and rolled her eyes to the clouds. Still clutching her umbrella, she hopped down from the ledge, making a small splash as she landed on the asphalt ground.

"Here. You do it like this"

"Tch. Back o-!"

She didn't really look it, but the woman was fast. Incredibly. Jacket had no time to react before he noticed she was already within inches of his face. In an instant, she had snatched the device from his hands and plunged the spike-end of it into the socket in his chest.

"Keh. G-Gah...!"

Jacket stumbled backward, gripping his chest tightly. For a brief, but excruciating moment, he felt a jolt course through his body, as if he'd been given a violent static shock. But just as he was sure he was a goner yet again, the all the pain immediately subsided.

"... Oh... whoa." Jacket slowly lifted his hands from the device he was now impaled on. As he did so, the device seemed to click, fitting itself snugly into the socket. The lights on the end of it flashed green.

*Attachment successful. Ether levels nominal.*

The Panzer woman smirked as she lifted her umbrella over herself once more.

"Well? Feel better?" Jacket was still staring wide-eyed at the device. It took him a second just to articulate his words.

"Y-Yea! It's hard to describe but... I feel like I could breathe better... well, I know I don't need to breathe... But it's just like--"

"-- Bonding with a Crosser, perhaps?

"..."

Yea. That's right. It dawned on Jacket that he had felt this sensation before. This extra boost of energy, and freedom of movement. It was similar to the rush he felt when he first formed his "contract" with Mirto.

"That thing acts like an amplifier as well as a storage tank. It accelerates the condensation rate of naturally occurring Ether and feeds it to you directly as energy. In other words, it speeds up the process at which a Stray regenerates."

"... Oh." Jacket looked down at the glowing lights with a solemn expression. Even the color is kind of the same

"... Of course, it's nowhere near a replacement for a real Crosser. To be honest, I don't think it would have even worked if not for that messed up body of yours. You know that you actively absorbs and hold Ether in a steady, material state? I've never heard of such a thing before. Regular Strays drain their own Ether just by existing, but you can hang around just fine as long as you don't bang yourself up too much." When the woman turned and saw she was preaching to a zoned-out audience, she shrugged and sighed. "Freakin' buffoons. No one appreciates the science, just the results."

Walking over to Jacket, she raised a leg and kicked him at full force in the backside, causing the Stray to tumbled out of the bushes and onto the wet road.

"O-Ow! What the hell?!"

"Oi. You still sulking? Didn't you hear? That little girlfriend of yours is safe. Or are you going to get all angsty on me like you did with your little friends?" Jacket rolled over and rubbed his injured behind.

"Tch. So you were watchin' me all the way back there too, huh?"

"Oh? So... then you do remember about turning into a Blight."

"... Yea."

"And you lied to them about it?"

"... Was it the wrong thing to do?"

"Eh?" Slowly, Jacket got up again, brushing the trails of rainwater off his face.

"I realized... if there are people who are willing to reach a hand out to me, even when I'm in such a despicable state, then I at least owe them enough to stand on my own after."

"Heh, is that so?"

"Hey... Why are you helping me, then?"

"Ain't that the million-dollar question?" The woman slowly cracked a smile that spelled a million hidden intentions. "There are people I dislike who'd be overjoyed to have you in their hands. It makes me real happy be to screwing up their plans!"

"... Uh, seriously? That's it?"

"That's more than enough of a reason for me."

"So, people who... Hold on. Y-You mean, like that guy on the cliff? You know him?!

"Ah. Yea, he'd probably be one of them." Upon hearing this, Jacket stepped forward with a splash and clenched his fists.

"Who was he?! Where is he now?! That bastard..." The Panzer woman's amused expression melted away into a serious stare.

"It'd be unhealthy for you if I told you that now."

"Kuh... Damn! Don't mess arou-" Jacket stopped himself mid-sentence. In the past, he probably would have done something reckless like charging the stranger, demanding for answers. Relaxing his fists, Jacket exhaled and regained his composure. There wasn't any point in arguing if she was completely right.

"Yea. That's probably true. Can I ask about one more thing, then?"

The woman remained silent, so Jacket continued.

"Back there, the guy kept talking about some Fragment. Do you know about it? What it is?" At the very mention of the word, the woman furrowed her brows even tighter.

"The gist of it, yes."

"Does it... have anything to do with my previous life?"

"... It might."

"Alright. That's all I need to know."

"Huh? Really?" Jacket's sudden break in attitude seemed to catch the woman off guard. Her grim expression change to a puzzled look with a raised eyebrow. She seemed to have expected him to pry more deeply.

"Yea." The Stray placed on hand on his waist and another behind his head. He struggled for a bit, as if to straighten out his thoughts, then spoke. "It's weird. I know a Stray's purpose is to discover their past and all... and at one point I was really curious, too. But at this moment, I feel like it's something I can't be concerned about. For now, I want to be able to protect this."

Jacket held his hands out in front of him and stretched out his, as if reaching for something fragile and precious, but ever so far away.

"... This life, the one I'm part of right now, and everything in it. Mirto... and Sophia... even that superhero brat and that cape-wearing idiot. I know it's selfish, but I want to protect it all with these hands."

"Oh ho... that was surprisingly well said. Alright then, I'll leave you be."

"Wait, you're leaving?"

"Yea well, after you've said something like that just now, me sticking around will just spoil the mood."

"Oh... well, uh..." Getting on his knees, Jacket performed little bow. "E-EVEN THOUGH I'VE NEVER MET YOU BEFORE TODAY, THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!"

"Don't do that. You look awkward and stupid, and the rain makes it seem even more pathetic."

"Oh... yea?"

"Yes. And I wouldn't be so thankful yet, if I were you. That thing in your chest has a tracer on it. If you do anything retarded again, I might decide that saving you wasn't worth the fun I'm having."

"Ah. Uh... right. I'll be careful, I guess." Jacket gulped as he nervously complied. For some reason, he felt it was best not to cross this surly lady.

"Oh! Yea. I almost forgot. Here." Tapping a few more buttons on her wrist device, the woman beamed out what appeared to be a pile of clothes. She snatched them out of the air before they fell onto the wet floor, only to throw them roughly in Jacket's direction.

"Ack! Can't you pass me anything normally? What are these?" The Stray curiously examined the items he was given. There was a sturdy, brown parka jacket with a fur-lined hood, and a simple pair of navy blue pants with a belt already looped through it.

"Clothes, dumbass. What do they look like? Put them on, I can't stand watching you run around like a public streaker."

Obediently, Jacket did as he was told, hopping into the pair of pants and slipping into the parka.

"Hey, they're pretty comfy! Do I look okay?"

"Cheh. Like a punk. But at least somewhat less indecent."

"No way. I think the jacket's pretty bad ass, at least!" For a moment, the Stray seemed to have forgotten all his troubles as he eagerly tried to check out a reflection of himself in a nearby puddle. "By the way! I still don't know your--"

But when Jacket looked back up, there was already no one there. The only thing that remained was a few, fine flecks of black down feathers floating toward the ground.

"... I guess 'Crow Lady' would do, then." As Jacket turned to make his own departure, he absentmindedly stuck his hands into the pockets of his new attire, only to feel that something was already occupying the left one. "Hmm?"

Jacket removed the item without thinking much, but when he did, he stared speechlessly at it for a moment. Then clenched the object tightly in his hand, before tying it tightly around his left arm.

He wasn't ready to learn that guy's name. Not yet. But he'll grit his teeth and plow on through. When the time comes...

"I won't be useless."

Until the day when he can face her again without doubt or guilt, he won't falter. He can't afford to, ever again.

"Sorry Princess. I didn't deserve to play the knight, but I'll definitely become a guy with the guts to do it."

And so, the Phantom Jacket of Pebbleton turned to go. Disappearing into the fog and rain. On his left arm hung a a mark both shameful and proud. A frayed tuft of yellow cloth.
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by AYC »

Date: 8 Jun, Tuesday
Time: 3:00 pm
Weather: Rain
Location: Gurren Street
PC: M
Other PCs: Sophia, Mirto
================


Although M has his misgivings about Jacket keeping his stupid, meathead self out of trouble, it's not like there's anything he himself can do about it. Besides distracting Sophia, that is.

Despite his efforts, however, he's definitely not doing a really good job at it. Especially when M's also rather stunned at the frayed lump of cloth doing somersaults through the windy air in front of them.

Well, whaddya know. It's the aforementioned annoying ham's hat.

M spends a few more minutes marveling at how it must've survived the strong winds and fierce torrents of wind from past few days. In a sense, he figures it must be something along the lines of being as resilient as its owner.

Or something like that.

Sophia tugs on his sleeve insistently, and points to the floating garment in the distance.

Mmph. I guess she wants us to catch it.

Although it sounds easy enough, ten minutes later the both of them have probably slid and missed the mark more times than they could probably count with the fingers on both of their hands. It's a good thing the worst that's happened to Sophia is falling flat on her face, but M's already slammed face first into a pole... and then some. And that ratty hat is still swirling around in the wind, just out of reach.

It's almost as if it's mocking them.

"Grr... Sophia. I think that hat has something against us."

"But we're so close, Mr. Mad Hooder!"

Dammit. His attempt to get Sophia to give up just fell short. Ugh...

The hat disappears around the corner in the direction of what M suspects to be the Telston Mall, judging from their surroundings. Damn, they've already run so far? Better get that thing quickly before it starts smacking itself onto innocent shopgoers.

But who's crazy enough to go out in this weather to head to the mall anyway?

Apparently one unfortunate soul is, because both M and Sophia screech to halt when they turn the corner and watch as the hat ducks under a clear parasol and hits someone in the face with a wet slap.

"What the -?"

The rim of the umbrella lifts slightly as the person reaches up to extract the soaked fabric.

"Isn't this... Jacket's hat?"

"Yeah, you got that right."

The person straightens up some more, and M recognizes the surprised face to be that of Jacket's ex-Crosser.

"Oh, it's you two. Um..."

...

"Well, I guess that was a waste of time, Sophia. Looks like it ended up in good hands after all."

Even if he's pretty worn out from all the running and kind of just wants to go back and watch TV at Sanae's place, Sophia apparently has other plans. She even runs right up to the girl and looks up brightly in her face.

"Madam Mirto! Mr. Jacket!"

The sudden outburst has the Crosser leaning back slightly. "Um. Yes?"

"He is alive and well! You needn't worry so much anymore!"

"... Oh. Okay." The girl gives her a mildly puzzled look in response. Either she cares a lot less about Jacket than he'd thought, or she cares about him enough to have confidence in his ability to like... live through everything. Holy hell.

Luckily Sophia isn't like M and doesn't seem very deterred by Mirto's lack of response at all - in fact, she looks pretty happy to have just delivered the message. Ignoring the awkwardness that comes with an abrupt departure, she turns on her heel and runs back to M's side, perfectly content with returning home at this point. Finally.

It's almost time for episode one of that new cartoon he wanted to watch.

"Um... wait. What do you want me to do with this hat?"

Against his better judgement, M fails to stifle the slightly frustrated sigh and his disappointment from appearing on his face. It's like... his inner childishness is threatening to come out, crap.

Gotta keep cool in front of Sophia, M.

"It's Mr. Jacket's hat, Madam Mirto. You should probably hold on to it!"

The smile on Sophia's face falters a little when the other girl expresses some hesitation at her recommendation.

"Actually, Sophia... wouldn't it be better for you to hold on to it?"

"Madam Mirto..?"

"I take it you've already met Jacket, right? You two probably have a better chance of meeting up with him and giving this back than I do." Then, after a brief pause, she adds lightly, "I don't think he wants to see me right now anyway."

M's not sure if Mirto felt the sudden gust of hot air emanating from Sophia, but the smaller Stray flares up suddenly in what he guesses to be something akin to "passionate worry". Worry for her friends, most likely.

"That's not true! Mr. Jacket really really wanted to meet Madam Mirto but he was - "

The Crosser raises an eyebrow as M struggles to stifle the rest of Sophia's sentence with his hand.

"He wanted to meet you but he was... getting chased by cats! Those little guys can't keep themselves off him, haha...!"

I don't think we should let her know about his Blightification problem just yet, Sophia.

Okay...

The corner of Mirto's mouth twitches slightly at his response, but he can tell that she's not impressed with the makeshift quality of his excuse. She even blatantly ignores his comment and goes straight for Sophia.

Well damn.

"'But he was'..?"

Sophia squirms a bit now that she's been released from his hold. "Ah... he wanted to meet you really badly... but then he thought that he should wait a little longer..."

Although the expression on Mirto's face says that she's not completely convinced with Sophia's similarly lackluster excuse, she's merciful enough to let the two of them off with a resigned sigh.

"Well, whatever..."

M watches as she stoops down to Sophia's level and presses the now slightly drier hat into the Stray's hands. "I still think I should leave this with you guys though."

"But Madam Mirto..."

"You don't have to worry about the two of us. We'll find each other when we're ready."

She offers the smaller girl a soft smile, and straightens up again before Sophia can argue against her.

"You two should probably be getting back to your Crossers soon. Later."

She disappears around the corner at a brisk pace, leaving the two Strays behind in the still pouring rain. Vaguely, M notices that Sophia's holding a hat getting increasingly heavy with rainwater again.

"Come on Sophia. We should get back to Martin."

"Okay..."

The two of them only walk a few steps before Sophia pipes up cheerfully, "I think Madam Mirto would make a nice big sister..."

M, with his mind only on the aspect of finally watching his cartoons again, twitches slightly.

I'm starting to think it's a lot of hard work being your big brother though, Sophia.
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Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by AYC »

Date: 8 Jun, Tuesday
Time: 4:30 pm
Weather: Rain
Location: Uptown Pebbleton
PC: Lazarus
================


Yeah, so that storm that's been raging over the town the past couple of days?

Not my fault.

But the lightning?

Haha. Someone please kill me.

Because at the rate Lazarus is going, if something doesn't kill this stuffed-bear-head wearing Stray first, it's going to kill itself with how much ether it's been expending.

Somewhere in the deep recesses of its mind, Lazarus regrets running away from its previous Crossers just ever so slightly. 'Cause at least then, it wouldn't have had to worry about running out of fuel when being kindly followed by really big, scary-looking ether beings.

Actually, who does it think it's fooling? Regardless of what happens, Lazarus is almost one hundred and fifty percent sure that if it doesn't kill itself first, those Blights will.

Especially with the way it's been shooting down Blight after Blight with the smallest, most minimum forks of electricity it can afford to. Unfortunately, the fact that very few other Crossers and Strays wander around outside with weather like this has not been working in Lazarus's favor - since the more Lazarus tries to kill, the more Blights show up for a stab at a meal. Like a giant ether beacon or something.

But then again, the more Lazarus tries to run, the more Blights show up anyway.

Vaguely, the bear-headed Stray wonders why it's even putting in the effort to stay alive. Wouldn't it just be easier to... you know, just give up? Get it done, quick and painlessly? Because, hey, isn't that why it had decided to flee for its sad existence in the first place? Tired of a weary and back-breaking life of playing Pokemon to a bunch of kids, a solitary Stray makes a break for it in hopes of a more peaceful lifestyle.

Ah, it sounds kind of like a movie. A bad one.

And it's just too bad that it still has memories to get back, new memories to make, new friends to gain, an important person to find...

Those kinds of things.

I'm still young! I've only been around for like four years! I still have things to experience out there - !

... Oh crap, the tears are getting the inside of the bear head wet. Whoops.

Nnnn...

Despite what Lazarus may feel though, the fact still remains that those increasingly infuriated-looking Blights aren't going to let this Stray off the hook so easily. Especially when half of them look like they haven't had a proper meal in a few days.

Not that I have either...!

But with Lazarus unable to escape its fate by itself, there's like no way out. It's almost synonymous with imminent doom.

So Lazarus lets out an unexpectedly high-pitched scream and yells:

"SOMEBODY SAVE MEEEEEEE!!"

And collides right into someone covered in a bunch of mismatched clothes and a distinct orange and brown scarf.
Sentrovasi
Posts: 163
Joined: Sun Aug 29, 2010 12:55 am

Re: Lamentable Nights: The RP

Post by Sentrovasi »

Date: 08/06 Tuesday
Time: 1:50 PM
Weather: Raining
Location: Along Lagann Street
PC: Threads
Other PCs: Sophia, Makoto, Jacket, Hailey

To be completely fair, he hadn't followed them. He hadn't even planned on following anyone today. It was one of those things he'd chalked up to fate, if fate even knew what she was doing anymore.

Why else would a group of three definitely unusual characters be casually strolling towards Fukami Mansion in the middle of such a heavy rain? Even the few punks who loitered around what he'd taken to be his property in the week since he'd come to occupy it would have been deterred by the heavy rain.

In fact, it appeared as though two of them were entirely unaffected by the rain: he had turned to look at his own hand almost absentmindedly as what should have been heavy rain slipped, intangible, through his fingers. They might be like him.

Like Lucifer.

And so he had followed them from a discreet distance, relying on the rain and their inattention to avoid detection by any of them. It had been a while since he'd felt the need to hide his movements, so used had he become to being invisible.

From Materion Square he had followed them, and at each step of the way he grew more convinced that they were as aware of this parallel reality as he was. And yet he couldn't reveal himself (if they could see him to begin with). He was going to need the leverage; no longer would he be caught off-guard.

It was therefore a surprise when a raven fluttered down in front of him and quite deliberately charged through his face.

A raven. One which deliberately tried to attack him. That was certainly new. His trailing momentarily halted, he paused to stare as the bird flew to the top of a nearby lamp post and fixed him with a steely gaze.

"Damn. And who are you, then? As if I haven't had enough problems to deal with already, another damn Stray shows up."

It was to his credit that he took but a moment to recover from the shock of being directly addressed by a crow, no less. Talking crows? On top of everything else he'd been through, it seemed almost normal.

"What are you?" He ignored the other, more obvious questions, and decided to go for the one that was most pertinent at the moment. A talking bird that could see people like himself was certainly a new development.

The bird seemed to sigh impatiently, if that was even possible for a bird. "I don't have the time or interest to explain everything to you, I'll need a light for that. Why are you following the other Strays? Oi, stop that."

He had taken out his black book and begun sketching in the image of the irritable raven on the lamp post even as he continued speaking.

"If by 'Strays', you mean those other people, they're obviously like me, and are currently headed towards my home. What would you do?"

He found it interesting that the bird referred to humans as strays, much as he would have referred to it as a stray bird if he'd thought it could have been domesticated in the least. It certainly looked too bad-tempered to be a pet of any kind.

"Tch, I don't have time for this." The raven seemed to be intent on following the group he was following. "These guys aren't the bad sort, so leave them alone for today, capiche?"

Before he could respond, the raven dived at a surprisingly sharp angle, tearing out the page on which he had drawn her.

"Sometimes you've got to have a little respect for others' privacy, kid."

And then she was off.

To be completely fair, he hadn't followed them. He hadn't even planned on following anyone today. But what the raven said struck closer to home than he'd thought. Lucifer's influence... his own nonchalance, maybe. People just weren't people to him, and he had to change that somehow.

Who knew his chance would come in the very same day?
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