Waking the Dead 2.0 || July 5-11, 2063 || The Wait

[kawaakari]

[Beautiful as Seigi is and generous as your hosts have been, it is hard to forget why you're here again.

Zangyaku is carrying on as per usual, as if your presence doesn't mean anything. It isn't a dismissal, though: it's an acknowledgment of the work that you must do, and that they are, by merit of your presence, helping you do it.]


General OOC Notes:
+ This is a catch-all post for any interactions that take place during the in-game period I indicated. Make sure to label your subject lines accordingly!
+ You're all staying at close to the Wolf's Ward, which is the wing devoted to the Blade King and the Wolfborn.
+ You're free to move around until about 7 PM. You have free run of the base.
+ You can, regardless of whether you have a license with Zangyaku or not, join in on minor routine engagements like patrol, or helping out at any of the divisions.
+ There is a free teleport back to Falner. You can go any time, as long as you're back before call time for the vigil with Ginko Takasugi-Vice from 8 PM until 4 AM.

General behavior of significant NPCs in the area:
+ Kasumi is your host, and effectively the officer in command for this leg of the operation.
+ Hikaru is generally NOT around during the day. He only turns up around dinner time to eat with everyone, take a temperature check on his end, and then immerse himself in his own work.
+ NPCs that have been fielded out to watch over David Young and Minato Arisato are available on call.
+ Other NPCs may be available on request. Just ping me?

Comments

[icarusalsoflew]

[He heard you coming from a mile away, of course. That didn't give him nearly enough time to prepare for you actually turning up.

Maybe he shouldn't have thought that he could handle this and let you approach in the first place.]

Sure.

[That response, though, comes a bit too late, and way after he's thumbed out a cigarette, lit up, and had his first drag. They're both out on the patio now, overlooking one of the many gardens in Seigi.]

[larue]

[ Looking over at that, but letting it slide for the moment as he slips out his own back and flicks open his lighter.

When he's taken a drag from his cigarette though: ]

Everything okay?

[ You've got that distracted look to you. He's chalking it up to this whole thing, and Jessie being gone for as long as he has. ]

We'll find him. We will.

[ He believes in that. It's only been the first twenty-four hours since everyone mobilized, after all. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

More like, we have to.

[Taking a drag now. And no, he didn't answer you. You know he doesn't like lying.]

[larue]

[ He's going to take your answer as is.

But he does set a gentle hand on your shoulder. ]

We will.

[ He doesn't make promises he can't keep. But he needs to believe in this. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

[He tenses at that gesture before he can stop himself. But maybe it could also be smoothed out and ignored because he was just about to take another drag from his cigarette. So.]

Right. Of course we will.

['We' feels like such a strange word to him right now.]

[larue]

[ Maybe it's how distracted you look, or the way you'd tensed. He can't quite put his finger on what it is, but it's a marked difference from the usual cavalier approach that you take to situations such as these.

Of course he thinks this is about Jessie. You both had found your rhythm again just yesterday. ]

Talk to me.

[ It's a catchphrase that he's realized you both use often enough, and he's not quite sure if he picked it up from you, but he wouldn't be surprised if he did. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

[He only shakes his head at that, and spares a quick glance in your direction.]

It's all right. Just got way too much on my mind, but I'll work through it on my own.

[larue]

[ He'll take that, even if he kind of wants to press. But he trusts you when you say you want to work it out on your own.

Maybe it's time to change topics. ]

They said we can join patrols while we're here.

[ He wants to stick close to Ginko, but the Hounds don't need to take shift until evening. As it is, he has a little less than an hour before he goes to rounds the others up, not that he needs to; they're all pretty committed to this. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

Feel free to.

[And that is all you're getting, in place of the usual explanations, or offers, or even just another opening for more talk.]

c r y i n g

[larue]

[ It's a strange feeling, the awkward silence that falls now between you both. He doesn't mean to, but Josh's shoulder hunch at that and he waits, as if wondering if you'll add something else, the way you usually do. When it becomes clear though that the silence will only stretch on, he rocks back on his heels.

This is his internal thought process: you've been out all day, this engagement is really important, you're clearly worried. This is Jessie, he gets it. You two are tight.

He should stop bothering you and just round up the Hounds. ]

Well, [ Fishing out his phone now; checking the time.

Yeah. He should go get the others. They can set up a little early, it's the first night after all. ] I'll head off. Need to get the others ready for our shift.

[ A small smile your way now: concerned, reassuring, an offer that goes catch you later? ]

[icarusalsoflew]

[And in as much as he knows what you're trying to do, in light of everything that's happening and HAS happened between you (even if you don't even know half of it), he can't bring himself to make you feel better.

Too much, too soon. Not yet.]

See you.

[larue]

[ Yeeaah.. he's just... going to... go.

Stepping away now with a quiet nod in your direction, phone in hand as he brings up the affectionately named group chat that started the day he'd messaged the Hounds and yourself at that ridiculous Rhiannon lunch weeks ago:

<< HOUNDCHAT >>
JOSH: Let's go, guys. Our turn watching Ginko.
We can figure out the shifts when we all meet up.
Can someone bring coffee?

He can't resist glancing back at you though, and he lifts a hand in a wave before he finally turns away for real. ]