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

6 July 2063, Friday : during dinner | Josh & Hikaru

[larue]

[ The first night on watch is uneventful and the Hounds had found themselves sent off at the end of their shift to rest and wind down. Josh couldn't sleep right away, had opted to pad out and jog before bed, his hoodie keeping him warm as he tracked a path around the base, into the forest, and back up the way he came, rounding back to where his blademates were sleeping soundly in their rooms. He crashes some ten minutes into the sun rising behind his curtains and wakes up sometime after lunch.

He doesn't join the patrols, but he does make it a point to check out the different divisions as much as he can. He has a ways still before he hits fifth circle, but he's listened to the others ( Stan, Yulia ) talk about their training and it gives him something to focus on outside of the waiting. It helps that he's a lot more discerning over the things that he wants now, in comparison to a few short months ago.

He doesn't take dinner with the rest, tells them he'll catch up, that he wants to check sonething out before he fills up for the evening, and lets his feet take him to the Wolf's Ward and down it's corridors. He knows that Hikaru is likely out, but he takes the chance anyway in the hopes that he might catch the Blade King for just a moment. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

[What he'll see, after about five minutes of wandering through the area, is that there's a single lighted study among the many empty (and dark) rooms in the Ward. There is one Hikaru Shinta seated in front of the low desk there. Said Blade King is shirtless, and currently busy undoing the bandages wrapped around his person; those are stained here and there with blood. Said low desk has his laptop and his phone, which is currently on loud speaker. There's also a bottle of whiskey (one fourth of it is gone), an ashtray with a cigarette burning away on it (and lots of killed butts besides), and medical supplies.

He's speaking in Japanese quietly to whoever's on the other end of the line. His head his bowed, and his eyes are focused on the task at hand. There's a thin edge of pain and a whole lot of exhaustion, though, in that voice. His hair is grey.

The clock that Josh can't help but always see, even if he doesn't want to, has lost about a year.]

[larue]

[ He comes to a full stop at the sight of the Blade King ( his friend and mentor in ways he hadn't expected ) and it's the sight of those grey hairs that get to him first, then the bandages, the half-gone bottle.

He doesn't even register the clock until he blinks, wonders for about a full minute why it looks so wrong -- until it finally dawns on him. ]

What happened?

[ Hushed, horrified, and yes, his fingers are now trembling fists.

It's been quiet. He knows Jessie hasn't come up on anyone's radar's just yet. So where the hell were you that you've come back looking like that. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

[Distracted as he was from the orders he was giving out, his own exhaustion and the fact that he had been busy patching himself up, he had failed to notice you coming, much less your presence, until you were right there and it was a bit too late to cover things up.

He stares at you for about a second too long before the voice on the other end reminds him that he was in the middle of his instructions.]

Give me a bit. [That's said in Japanese, matched by a cant of his head in the direction of his phone. Then he's putting the call on hold.

No, he's not going to look up at you. Might as well unwind these bandages.]

There was a situation in China. They needed some firepower over there to resolve it quickly and quietly.

[larue]

[ He exhales and rocks back on his heels, but it's a little difficult to keep his eyes from flicking up to that clock.

He stands there, quiet at first, unsure of what to do because he's reluctant to leave you but he knows he'd look like an inexperienced novice if he went off to ask for medical assistance to be sent your way.

Finally, he crosses tentatively over to you: ] Do you need help?

[icarusalsoflew]

No, I can do this.

[(no, you can't.)

Death isn't going to get a response to that, of course, and Hikaru's going to keep on focusing at the task at hand. Let's not think about how close Josh is all over again, how the Sin-Eater still doesn't know a thing, how stupid it is that he's considering all of that while his best friend is missing and there hasn't been a peep from anywhere in the Dark Hour in spite of their best efforts.

'Fucked up' does not even begin to cut it.]

[larue]

[ Josh tucks his hands away into his pockets at that, because he respects your call on this even if he's worried. If you say that you've got this, you know yourself best, but he even as he's deliberately trying to keep his eyes away from that clock--

( One year. He lost one year. ) ]

I could go get the Bodhisattvas. [ This is an apologetic look sent your way. ] You're hurt, Hikaru. And we're all still waiting on Jessie to turn up.

[ Even as the words leave him though, they sound almost pathetic and naive. They're hunters of the Vigil and Hikaru's the Blade King, of course this is old hat to him; he's not a child in need of mothering. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

They're aware.

[And they are also not going to come around because they know how their leader works. He's also given them strict orders to focus on people with a greater need for their services.]

I'll be fine.

[Especially after he's actually left alone.]

[larue]

[ He's nodding his head in response to that last statement. He's not really sure why it feels like you're cutting him off, can't put a finger on why his presence here feels unwelcome.

Maybe it's this whole engagement getting to him, and the fact that he still hasn't had time to really think over the sudden, unexpected promotion Gabriel sent his way about the tower that's going to get set up in Manila under Mica Torillo-Young.

He hasn't forgotten why he came looking for you, but asking your thoughts on something that isn't in the foreseeable future as of yet ( still in Seventh Circle, LaRue -- when did you get so greedy and overeager? ) seems overindulgent and selfish.

Head in the game, Josh. Leave everything else in the locker room. ]

Oh. Um.

[ It is the lamest response he has ever said in your presence.

This feels oddly like overstepping his bounds the evening of the South Korea engagement. ]

That's good then.

[ He should go.

He's not quite sure why he's so nervous to leave though.

You were both okay just the other day. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

[And since that appears to be done for the moment, he's turning his attentions away from you and taking his operative off hold.

You may proceed to watch Hikaru attend to someone else even if you happen to be right there now, LaRue. If you're still around, he'll try to deal with you again.

Keyword: 'try'.]

[larue]

[ He's rocking back on his heels, lingering for what feels like the longest minute of his life before he starts to back off.

You're busy. This is Seigi, not Falner. Your base, not Netsach, where everything feels less... clean-cut.

( Didn't Stan tell him as much? That Zangyaku wouldn't quite feel like "home"? )

Josh isn't quite sure why he feels like he's just taken a hit to the gut. Like he's overstepped somewhere, because the way you're acting is a total one-eighty after that moment at the smocket, after class, and then in the car where everything had felt easy, as if it was just pieces sliding neatly into place.

Backing up now. Quietly.

It's early yet and he hasn't eaten.

He probably should. ]