thefoundation | WEEK 3

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round 3

WEEK 3 - NIGHTSHADE

Finally, the whole truth of this affair had come out.

The Witch they had known as Yuuko was actually Nirrti, the Witch of Misfortune.
And Watanuki was actually the real Witch of Dimensions, as the two of them fought over the power that title brought, as well as the name and identity of a long dead woman...🗈

Though things had finally changed, perhaps it wouldn't be for the better. Nirrti herself seemed much different than how she was before, and Watanuki was the one who had brought all of them here...with that in mind, it was hard to tell how their future would shake out...

However, it wasn't all bad. A few more places were open to them, the second floor becoming a much more inviting place to be, and there was still everything they had gotten used to before. And now, they all knew that Nirrti's promises were nothing but empty air...

...or, perhaps, now they would merely change.

MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

CALENDAR | LOCATIONS | PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS | NIRRTI PC POST | WATANUKI PC POST

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Right, right, it seems like even Tatsumi is right about some stuff once in a while! If I ever get to meet a Shiki it'll get real interesting.

[They've more-or-less seriously bandied the idea around multiple times but the most likely option is just running into one if the Foundation ever manages to gacha any more vampires. And who knows how that would turn out. Doesn't mean it's not fun to do more cross-dimensional dragging at this point.

He returns Natsuno's expression with one of his own, mischief and thought darting bright and quick in his eyes as he continues appraising the state of the bedhead.]

Hmm, why not, though? I bet you could go blue, or maybe something brighter, 'cause you're always wearing bright colors.

[Apparently they're totally going down this road now.]

[ He hums at the thought, torn between amusement and the unsettling feeling of having to deal with them all over again. Their continued existence is almost assured, but it's something he's largely put out of his mind since his second death and the Foundation's everything. He had always framed these conversations as generic vampires in his mind.

But it's probably pretty unlikely that the gacha machine will pull anyone else from his world, right? ]

I wouldn't mind seeing you play with one. [ That's as far as he can go on the subject, the next topic is disorienting enough on it's own. ]

There wasn't any place to get that done in Sotoba or to buy any supplies to try it on my own. [ A pause and a breath. ] I was kinda busy being miserable then too. I didn't use to dress like this either.

[Anon cocks his head and just watches, a minor assessment of Natsuno's mood and the general state of the vampire -- though his grin is a little bit predatory on top of the mischief when he thinks about all of it, because he can't quite help it after sparring with Natsuno and everything. He doesn't have any other frame of reference, so it hasn't occurred to him not to think of vampires in these terms, oddly enough.

(He hasn't really thought about the gacha and back home yet, either; probably because it wouldn't change much, in the end. He's pretty sure. Not much would.)]

Leave it to me!

[He says this while looking fully like the gremlin he is and also while still dressed in flashy metallic astronaut pajamas, truly the picture of reliable vampire hunting(??). His silly helmet is resting on his knees with his chin resting on it, and he continues contemplating Natsuno like some kind of double-headed aluminum bobblehead.]

Ah, Sotoba really didn't have anything! No wonder. [no wonder Natsuno was miserable, that is, and just in general; he gets it, in some ways] What did you used to dress like?

I can't wait to see. [ The enthusiasm is infectious enough for Natsuno to say this playfully despite his wandering thoughts. A few days later he'll say the same words again in an entirely different tone, this just being one of many preludes to how their moods effect each other.

Speaking of that, the reflection of the boa in the helmet catches his eye with all the headbobbing going on. He fiddles with it around his neck as he thinks back. At this point, it really does feel like an entirely different life in some ways, compared to how he is now. ]

Dark colors, maybe some red and the occasional blue. And a lot of things you could run in. Or looked like you could run in anyway. I just needed an excuse for why I would wander Sotoba in the mornings or at night.

[And this iteration of that particular statement gets a little salute, just as cheeky and playful and ridiculous as the rest of Anon right now. There's definitely something to be said about their eternal feedback loop, but right now he's just pleased with himself.

This is certainly not the most ridiculously either or both of them have ever been dressed, but it's still something, between the boa and everything else. Anon's still all leaned up against the trunk they've probably been hogging most of this time, too, and he's not entirely done with it, but for the moment he's happy to delve into fashions past.]

Eh, you weren't allowed to wander in the mornings or at night unless you were running...? Was it like training for running out of there?

[That's half-joking but the other half is probably just curiosity as he cocks his head.]

[ Snorting despite himself. ]

Do you think they would buy that I'm a professional runner? [ Shaking his head. ] It would be weird for someone to just wander the roads like that without a reason, and I didn't want the obaasan or Shimizu to bug me more than they already did. Just seeing me with one of the nurses at the clinic one morning was enough to make them think we were dating.

A professional runner in training!

[Granted, he's only ever seen Natsuno pelt around as a jinrou so he's both uninformed and biased. But there's no one except Natsuno here to contradict him, so too bad. Anon takes another moment, seemingly to think this over rather seriously--]

Mmm, you can't explore without running, and you can't walk without dating somebody... Sotoba sure has some weird rules.

[Like, he's still trying to picture this tiny rural village, and hell he comes from the sticks in some very real senses himself but? But????

?????]

The Game actually sounds way less annoying than that.

[To be fair, the Game is just generally less annoying than home, too, they have truly come far from how much they were dragging the thing in the beginning weeks. Is this character development??]

Thanks. [ Half sarcastic half not because really he was pure useless noodle before being a jinrou. ]

It is, yeah. At least no one here has tried to ask me out or tell me that I'm dating someone. [ Very casual like, there's not a hint of self awareness here. And luckily(?) for them it'll be weeks before anyone else notices that they've somehow become essentially attached at the hip despite Natsuno's anti social tendencies and Anon's everything. ]

Heheh.

[Natsuno's sarcasm is very edgy and all, but the flashiness of the boa totally isn't helping here, nor is the rest of the conversation. Anon's amusement is twofold and most of it rests squarely on the idea of romantic Pieces on Witch island. Because what's self-awareness or any realization that Natsuno's somehow gone from a kind of amusing, fascinating, prickly specimen of an SCP vampire to just Natsuno, himself.

That would be asking a lot at this point.]

I don't think a lot of the people here would be very good at romance or anything, especially since they really aren't very good at the Game, anyway.

[This is the pot calling like 20 kettles black but you know what.]

They're definitely too busy freaking out! So the real solution to your obaasans is just to scare them enough to stop gossiping.

You think the two are related? [ For some reason that's amusing, and he bares his fangs in the smile that follows, purely on a whim. ]

Hmn...good thing I've gotten some practice at being the whole creature of the night thing here. [ Cause it worked so well before that it dissolved Anon into a fit of laughter. Maybe that would kill the obaasan, though? It's not out of the realm of possibility tbh. Either way he's just embracing that here, cause #yolo. ]

Of course. If you can't handle the Game at all, how are you going to handle anything else on the island? Even the goats!

[There are plenty of people who get discombobulated by the goats, too, as annoying as they are; to Anon they're minor annoyances that are sometimes entertaining and mostly useful for menial tasks -- a little bit like a familiar, maybe, or one of the people and creatures he's swallowed. It's no wonder he can be so cavalier about it.

Too bad for everyone else, though. He snickers in a pleased sort of a way at the fangs and the callback to Natsuno's nightlife adventures.]

I get the feeling you could get in more practice. It would probably be pretty funny, too.

[I mean. Just killing them is the other option, and that goes without saying when it's them. But much like the Game here, the more entertaining and practical option seems to be keeping them alive and kicking and screaming.]

Guess that's true. Dating seems like too much work anyway. [ There's just no interest here, at least on the surface. Give him some more time and he might realize that he's fallen into something here, but even the possibility of self awareness is still a ways off. ]

Yeah, I could. I don't think everyone knows I'm a jinrou yet, though.
[ Which is maybe fair? Maybe because he hasn't really been hiding it, but on the other hand see every single time he's together with Anon in public. ]

I think I'd rather work at other things!

[Like cosplay, apparently, or just messing around in the Game -- those seem to be his two priorities around here, apart from harassing people.

Because honestly, what even is dating, the most he knows about the concept is like bad romance novels and possibly daytime soaps?? And the unnecessarily complicated political shenanigans of clan intermarrying, let's say. The Underworld, especially in the mountains, is not conducive to having a great breadth of TV programming or life experience in general.]

Mmhm, that's why I said they're bad at this. If they can't even tell you're a jinrou or a vampire or something, then they still have a long way to go in everything else, too.

[Drag, drag, drag. He's known about Natsuno being a jinrou for long enough now -- and seen all the characteristics on display on a regular enough basis -- that he honestly forgets it's not general knowledge. Whoops.]

But that just means it'll be a lot more fun. ☆

[To go bump in the night or something.]

[ Nodding along he agrees with all this but— ]

Ah, I wouldn't want to kill any of them though, not like that at least. It would be a big pain...

[ It honestly might not be out of the realm of possibility with characters like Wheatley around. ]

Hmm, you mean in the jinrou way? Or just in the pretend jinrou way?

[Because there's jumpy and then there's just being a scaredy-cat, and of course Wheatley happens to be both to a truly impressive extent. Somehow. The thought makes him snicker again and pluck at his ridiculous cosplay outfit. And then there's just being prey, but that's probably not what they're talking about here. Maybe.

Actually, after a moment of thought Anon gives the helmet on his knees a whimsical little tap and affects his screechy Wheatley voice again.]

"At least I'm not as squishy as most humans... but! That doesn't mean you can just do these things! I might get so scared my hard drive would fall out, and then what would you do!! Nirrti will come after yoouuu!!"

[It's not an especially good imitation this time since he's 110% messing around, but you know what. He's playing for an audience of one and that's the important thing.]

Both. I don't want to deal with any shiki or jinrou. [ Cutting himself off here, he realizes he almost added ever again there. That's... weird? They were the whole reason he was still stubbornly clinging onto his third life, or they used to be. It shouldn't have changed...

Thankfully he doesn't get lost in this crisis of identity because he's quickly redirected to another Wheatley impression. The end result is a lopsided grin followed by a lazy laugh. ]

Plug the hard drive into a microwave or something. You don't need that body to live, and you'd be more useful that way. I think Nirrti might even thank me.

[ This is not how tech works but he might have honestly tried this if it happened. ]

Hmmm.

[There's a minute cock of Anon's head as he absorbs the funny stumble in Natsuno's talk about shiki and jinrou and whatnot, but it's usually been a semi-touchy subject in various ways, so the most he does is file it away for a vague later date in case it ends up being relevant.

Maybe one of these days, but the middle of a fashion show while he's pretending to be a scaredy-bot is probably not the time for this. Anon grins back at him, wiggling the helmet like that actually makes their ridiculous back-and-forth any more useful.]

"I'm a robot, not a microwave! If you wanted somebody to make your food, ask a goat already!!" [this is the part where he breaks down laughing] Hey, maybe he really would be a useful microwave. It's really too bad we can't plug one of the robots into a goat, though.

I wonder what would happen if they died?

[The million-dollar question, really. Can a robot be possessed???]

I think that's how you get Frankenstein. Goatenstein? [ Shrugging and shaking his head at his poor attempt at a portmanteau. ]

Maybe Takumi would know if a ghost-robot-goat is even possible. I'd ask, but I still haven't bothered to talk to him yet. [ Tipping his head to the side into some of the feather boa lazily. Everyone here he still doesn't socialize with, which is a bit odd considering how much they hang out together but his relationships usually turn out this way if he bothers to make any. So it's not that weird to Natsuno? And it's not like this will go the way it did with Tohru.

Which holds true in the future, at least for the betraying part. The liking part...well he couldn't be more wrong. ]

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WEEK 3 - NIGHTSHADE

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