WEEK 4 - VENUS FLYTRAP

[foundationmods]

Another week dawned.

But after the events at the trial, more than a few people would have wanted for time to stop still.

In this game, even unshakable loyalties....could be broken.🗈

If that were the case, then what was stopping even more horrible crimes from happening this thursday night?
And they knew they could do nothing to stop it from happening.

...Still, they had to continue the game, until one or both of the Witches admitted defeat, or the game itself came to a close.

Yet, they also felt as if something might change. Some big reveal felt as if it was just around the corner....but for now, it seemed as if they had to play the waiting game.

No matter how awful that felt.

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Comments

[anonnomnomnom]

[There's something both delighted and sheepish in his laugh this time.]

I'm starting to wonder if Infernals and jinrou are really just about the same thing, just with rules from different worlds or something.

Though, technically, we're not supposed to scare things with our aura. I'm just still pretty bad at being lowkey enough.

[sotoshini]

[ Just running a hand through his bangs at the laughter and everything. ]

I don't have stripes and I don't [ Wait he shouldn't say eat, he remembers that from last time. Guess he is just miming the same mouth action Anon did prior. It's fine. ] —people like that.

[anonnomnomnom]

[He just. Blinks a couple of times when Natsuno mimes right back at him and then cracks up -- it gets to the point where he has to double over a little because he's seriously losing it.]

Ahahaha, you-- [okay one more moment to recover from this particular ambush] --you really don't, that's true. Animals just have really good instincts for all kinds of predators, that's all. I kind of miss it, actually.

[sotoshini]

[ Hnnnn. He's sure that looked stupid but how else was he supposed to say it!?! There's no winning here but he has to do something so he retaliates by shoving Anon playfully in the shoulder. He's upgraded from poking now. ]

I- [ Crossing his arms and pretending that he hasn't lost control of the situation] I guess so. All I know is that dogs hate me.

[anonnomnomnom]

[He's still snickering a little, because Natsuno absolutely looks like a cat refusing to acknowledge that it just missed its landing and faceplanted off the sofa. Granted, he doesn't know cats that well so it's the spirit of the thing, or maybe demon cats are like this too.

As for the shove, he rolls with it and then retaliates with an elbow. The ridiculousness has truly leveled up.]

Right? The last time I met dogs, even the one that was bullying the smaller dog tried to run away from me. [he's making gestures to indicate the size of the dogs: one above knee height, the other about the size of a football] Ah. And then Ueki got mad at me for trying to fetch the dog.

[sotoshini]

[ Hnnn. He absolutely wants to push back even more, but something catches his attention. Unfolding his arms he settles for just leaning back with no real purpose. ]

Ah, wolves hate me too. Ueki? 

[anonnomnomnom]

[There's a brief inquisitive tilt of his head when Natsuno backs down, but he's promptly distracted by the question, since it's a good one.]

Oh, didn't I mention Ueki before? He's a pretty promising Celestial in the tournament! He actually single-handedly wrecked Father's Plan A, and he's been making big waves -- there's all kinds of rumors about him, like how he can use all the Celestial weapons at once and everything.

[His eyes sparkle a little about this, because good opponents are good. You can pretty much see the metaphorical tail wagging.]

Ah, but a lot of it is just rumors. He's not actually that strong yet -- I don't even remember how many stars he has, but it isn't enough to make it to the end. I was helping train him! Kind of.

[sotoshini]

[ Natsuno is content listening it seems, nodding his head when he recognizes most of what Anon is talking about. The system is still pretty abstract to him, but he's surprisingly a good listener when he wants to be.

Cocking his head at the end, he asks with a hint of amusement. ]

Kind of?

[anonnomnomnom]

[It could be almost surprising, how smooth it is to just throw everything out there -- odd terms and all the trappings of where he's going and where he came from, all of it in a messy package that Natsuno catches anyway. There's definitely something funny about it.

Anon being Anon, he plows right on anyway. There's a slightly crooked grin as he scratches a little at all his endless tresses.]

We-ell, he was getting all cocky, him and his team -- just because they managed to beat some real ordinary teams to make it to a midpoint in the tournament. They were just setting themselves up for a fall, so I had them take it early.

Sometimes, people just don't learn until they scrape themselves up a little.

[sotoshini]

[ He's paid attention to this entire story, it's written in how rapt his attention is, but at the end all he can do is snort. ]

They don't. Did you throw him into the ocean too?

[anonnomnomnom]

[His laugh is totally unrepentant.]

I would have if I had an ocean to throw him into! He wielded trees, so maybe that would have helped him grow faster.

[Which he's definitely joking about but like, in shounen canons bullshit lore like this could almost turn out to be true sometimes. So is it really a joke.]

But they actually had the tournament up in the middle of the Celestial World, so there really wasn't enough water for that.

[sotoshini]

[ Isn't salt bad for plants? But maybe it was magical trees it was fine. Natsuno has no idea and just kind of accepts that joke or not. He doesn't mind the laugh either, he had a good time despite his unexpected swim. ]

There's not a lot of water there? The obaasans of Sotoba really had no idea what they were talking about.

[anonnomnomnom]

There wasn't where we were, anyway. It's a pretty big world, I guess, even though I only got to see a little bit of it so far.

[Really, he's only done the whirlwind tour of both the Celestial and human worlds. Fighting tournaments don't always leave you with enough room to do these things.]

Ah, did the hag ladies know something about the Celestial World, too?

[sotoshini]

Sounds better than Sotoba even if I'm sure there were annoying rules and people in it too. The obaasans always went on about heaven, enlightenment, reincarnation and all of that, so one of them probably thought they knew about celestials. I don't think I've heard of infernals before I met you, aside from one really bad movie I saw.

[ Natsuno would probably take anything over Sotoba tbf, but his interest is genuine here besides. ]

[anonnomnomnom]

Well, I didn't see any real turtles, even though there was definitely soup. They're actually pretty hard animals to find.

[Now you've got him messing with turtle soup symbolism, good job.]

But yeah. The Celestial World would be what humans think of as heaven, even if most of what they know is a bunch of rumors. The Celestial World and the Underworld aren't that different at all. They're all the same in the end, because they all have people in them.

[...]

Maybe something else we have in common is bad fictional examples?

[sotoshini]

[ Smiling wryly at this, particularly the turtle soup part. ]

Yeah, we can add that to the list. I think I'm starting to lose count. [ As much as he was flustered before, there's something kind of comforting in it. Not that he would say as much, but. ]

[anonnomnomnom]

Heheh, I think we're up to at least five things.

[He's been having fun counting, even if some of it is hard to quantify for various reasons.]

[sotoshini]

[ He murmurs a soft "Hmn" and nods. ]

I wonder how many we'll get up to. My turn, right? [ Not waiting for an answer here, but it's not like he's invested now or anything. ]

- I wish I was taller.
- I've walked three hours to school because I've missed the bus.
- I was a bad student...when I went.

[anonnomnomnom]

Oh, are we taking turns now? I like this idea.

[Two Truths and a Lie is totally new to him but he's up for the challenge?? He always is. There's a happy hum as he considers Natsuno's picks.]

Okay. It's the third one, because you said that school was your ticket out! The second one is something I could totally see you doing, and the first one would be fun to see, too.

[Some of these reasonings are legit and some are pure Anon, I guess.]

[sotoshini]

Right. [ For a brief answer, it sounds pretty pleased. ]

I have. Twice in one day sometimes, but it's not like I was missing out on anything. Gave the obaasan something to talk about too.

And the first one... a nurse told me I might still be growing but I don't think I can now. Maybe if I get better blood.

[anonnomnomnom]

[He gives a little cheer at getting it right.]

It's always good to get some fresh air, but those hags really, really don't have anything better to do, huh... The country sure is boring.

What does better blood mean, anyway? Maybe you can get some once we get out of here.

[sotoshini]

Mhmm. They gossip, they sit around and they die. Maybe we can see if the obaasan in the city are any better when we go.

[ Tapping a finger against his lip. ]

Blood quality between humans. I don't know if it matters and I blew up Tatsumi so I can't ask. [ The one downside to that explosion business. ]

[anonnomnomnom]

I get the feeling they won't be any better, just gossipy in a totally different way. That's true even in the Underworld, actually, but at least most of them are too busy training.

[Gossips are the same anywhere, apparently..... Infernals probably just do it over blood tea and blades. That's a joke.

Anon seems to give this some thought.]

Well, it sounds like this Tatsumi guy was pretty set in his ways, so maybe he wouldn't have given you good advice, especially for here. We have nonhumans, after all. Maybe we can catch you a dragon or an SCP made of blood sometime.

[Does. Does Natsuno really want to drink those.]

[sotoshini]

Least they would beat the other obaasan in a fight. [ Old lady battle royal? It doesn't sound like he would mind seeing that. Natsuno doesn't think too much into this though because then dragons and blood SCP happens. ]

Pass on the SCP. Blood doesn't taste good unless it's from a beating heart. [ Running his tongue over his fangs, thinking... ]

I wonder if dragons taste spicy.

[ Apparently yes, because he's embraced his #yolo unlife. ]

[anonnomnomnom]

They would totally beat them into the ground.

[They spend way too much time talking about old ladies dying but like, it's not like he wouldn't also be up for an old lady battle royale?? Bonding activities are important--]

Hahaha, you're thinking too small! I bet somewhere out there, there's an SCP that is just one big beating heart, or maybe a bunch of beating hearts working together.

Come to think of it, maybe some dragons out there have a bunch of hearts. And they taste like pepper.