RECORDING 7: THE THIRD WEEK.

[foundationmods]

A third week in this place begins, with less of your number among you. The final week completely covered by everyone's rations, though with proper meting out, you'll be able to make it stretch until after week 4. It seems as if everyone will have to go without a few meals here and there..

To make things worse, when you wake up - it's clear the Miasma has gotten thicker. Everyone, save those still protected either by their powers or items they brought with them, is now even more deeply affected by the curse. Arguments will be flaring up more, along with negative thoughts and feelings...and even more worrying Is that any magic that touches the house itself will corrode over time. If a barrier is put in place and touches the floor, walls, or ceiling, in half a day it will be completely consumed by the miasma and fizzle out. Spells or seals will also corrode, and even personal healing abilities have been halved.

The Temperature has dropped, just a bit - down to the mid to low 60's. Strange, isn't it? As before,the rooms have changed, so hopefully you kept anything essential in the static area.

25 of your number still remain.

...What new horrors await you this week?


WARNING: Some investigations of new areas will contain traps that may be harmful or even lethal.
MIASMA LEVEL: 2
Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday - Thursday
Main Navigation - IC rules + info so far - Dossiers - Locations

Comments

[noneforall]

[It's not quite the time yet for real darkness to fall upon their little group, or for all colors to be cast in shadow the way they'll be later -- for now they're still at bumbling deaths and slightly backwards or equally bumbled solutions to supply problems, trial problems, and so much else.

All the same Subete collects darkness like so much else and files it away, especially now -- together with the book of the occult, the old notations on mystery and magic that aren't exactly strange to him, given his own background. Something about it makes his mouth curve up before he lets it lie, but then Hikage's response draws out an actual laugh this time, short and light counterpoint to all the sighing.

Ah, maybe he's exacting a little schadenfreude for all the late-night startling and the not-so-late night ambushes after all.]

I didn't think I hit you over the head that hard this time. [Subete Stop Hitting Amnesiacs In The Head 2k00] Mercy it is. Your choice: a list of the things you've done, that you proclaimed so proudly, or a list of your tests, that you rambled about so readily.

[The still-sharp light in his eye sparks, a pleasant sort of challenge: mercy again?]

[kaliedoscopes]

[ He scowls because it really is more than once he's found himself in this situation of being at the receiving end, head injury wise. Once is probably too much on its own but rather than draw attention to it he focuses on the elaboration, his exasperation changing shape to something faintly amused. Whether it's his instinctive reaction to a challenge or some residual mess from the parts he's yet to tidy up is unclear. ]

We've come this far, so taking the easy way out with tests is something I'll pass on. A list of things I've done then—you really do want to spend the entire night with me huh? As much as I'd like to, I prefer a bed to a wooden desk or hard floor.

Keeping this simple then: make curry, lie to someone, count cards in Old Maid, blackmail someone, teach someone how to kiss, kill someone.

[noneforall]

Ah, so I did hit a little harder than I thought.

[Easily, like pairing cards together, and maybe it's so easy because they've been here enough times (somehow) or because it's satisfying to see Hikage scowl and be on the back foot for once even if only for a moment. If nothing else, the night is fruitful for that much. His eyes narrow briefly before he sits back and spreads his hands in a shrug.]

I'm afraid my bedside manner is atrocious. So I've been told. But more importantly: you counted cards in Old Maid...?

[Yes, that's apparently his first reaction, because. For real, man. There's a huff of breath that could definitely be another laugh or a sigh or a bit of both, but instead he folds his arms again, considering. Or just possibly putting together more math:]

I do wonder just how many someones you managed on that list.

[kaliedoscopes]

I can be gentle, but usually that doesn't overlap with being hit in the head repeatedly. [ A little one-two, always forward in this dance. ]

But yeah, why wouldn't I? I like to win, and it was a better use of my time than listening to their petty banter. [ A shrug that loosens his posture. ]

That depends on which item, but feel free to guess.

[noneforall]

Hmm. I wouldn't say gentleness becomes you, or all of the scrapes you manage to get into.

[Spoken without the least inkling of remorse or shame as a prime perpetrator of said head injuries; certainly his possibly repeated attempts to turn it off and on again have failed to the nth degree, but it's not like Subete is one to give up so easy. That's probably why he's still here, trading faintly barbed remarks at too early in the AM.

There's a quiet snort, ostensibly about the Old Maid, because sometimes Hikage is something else in an entirely different sense than his usual piece of work.]

Liking to win and cheating at one of the simplest card games in existence are two entirely separate things, Hikage. [bemused more than amused, but both emotions are there turning around and around in carousel; he tilts his head and there's a quirk at the corner of his mouth, almost mischief] You know, I seem to recall you saying some time ago that age is one of those relative things.

That said, I'd be more impressed if all of your someones turned out to be the same person.

[kaliedoscopes]

Ha, but it's generally such a crowd pleaser. [ Another shrug, but he adjusts his posture after this one, straightening up properly in the chair. Turning it on and off again repeatedly might have made it worse actually, but that's fine. Eventually he'll find the proper gear again or more likely settle into an entirely new one. ]

That's true in definition, but not in function in this case. [ Apparently he will die on this hill of Old Maid and the look he gives speaks for him: And? He holds it while ostensibly considering how to respond to the rest. ]

Really? That would be overkill and not necessarily in the good way.

[noneforall]

I can't say I'm interested in food for the masses, but...

[And that's definitely his casual low-key (it's low-key for him) elitism coming out, with the caveat that he's a little leery of the non-crowded option as well, with the secondary caveat that really, his strategies for machines and people should be a little more refined all things considered but in this case who knows how much that would help.

Just. Shaking his head about card games...... In an AU somewhere Hikage was the villain in a YGO series.]

Functionality is what matters even in the smallest details, huh? You might miss out on a thing or two that way. [because sometimes, somehow, you can be both at the same time; there's a lazy note in his voice that sticks around] Anyway, don't you think it would be impressive if there was someone out there who'd fall for all of that, all at once?

[kaliedoscopes]

I prefer sansai no nimono myself, but gyudon sells. [ Flippantly because this might just be the loopiest wordplay they've talked about yet, and it doesn't even include any ramen or fusilli.

A beat as he considers the rest, folding his arms across his chest loosely. There's a mute tap,tap,tap with a finger as he counts out what he listed to himself. ]

There was, I just wasn't interested. And if I'm missing out on purpose, that doesn't count. [ Somehow still he can say this with full confidence and with the same nonchalance as if he's talking about selecting what restaurant to dine at. ]

[noneforall]

Ah, how rustic. I'm afraid my worldliness only extends to gyuudon, personally, but if I were to split the difference geographically... shoujin ryouri?

[Applying the quality worldliness to himself while theoretically calling the other guy a monk is also some measure of absurd, but it's not like they've been particularly trying for seriousness or even any kind of coherent metaphor on this end of things. At the very least they've thoroughly strayed to different tastes entirely, but there's an airy quality in Subete's voice as he reminisces about real cuisine of any kind...

That's probably where they're at, at this point. That, and the deep and tragic lack of restaurants of any stripe.]

Mm, it would be functionally similar to miss out on purpose if you hadn't tried it in the first place. [a little sigh, a touch affected because he's just like this, leaning his cheek on a hand] You actually did find a golden goose? Tell me you at least plucked a few feathers.

[kaliedoscopes]

[ A second's pause as he really takes in both worldliness and shoujin as it relates to them. It's a long second, because as much as their conversations tend to go on wild tangents, this is beyond even their norm (if you can use norm in any shape of the word). And then he laughs of course, though he tries to muffle it into his good hand. Usually he doesn't bother with this kind of gesture, but this laughter is of a different sort, without any malice, exasperation, of gaiety and nothing else.

Right, moving on. ]

I'd take gyuudon at this point, with grated daikon and extra green onion. [ Thoughts for the future; best to aim low as he's not even going to dream about locating sansai no nimono or shoujin ryouri any time soon. That and he might laugh again.

Luckily he can easily settle into a shade of his typical deadpan with his next reply. ]

It still doesn't count. And yeah I did, before the goose flew itself into a windmill.

[noneforall]

[There is no norm when it comes to them; and any norm there is is merely ceremony or maybe seasoning, a side note that heightens whatever absurd breakthroughs are happening in the main course. Breaks are the name of the game, after all, especially tonight: Subete keeps his little aloof smile but the spark in his eye brightens at the laughter all the same.]

Onsen tamago and cheese, mentaiko mayo.

[Something self-satisfied sneaks into his voice for a second even as he answers right away, like he's reading off a menu in front of him rather than a book. There's a brief click of his tongue but still something amused about it because they're still dying on some hill here.]

Mmhm. [noncommittal but also non-agreement] Now you must tell me about this windmill.

[kaliedoscopes]

Now we just need to wait for delivery to arrive. [ They sure are dying on this hill, even twenty years later.

A glance over at the occult book that's sadly not a menu. ]

I must, huh? There's not that much to tell and there's no windmills here, that's what I was checking actually before everything got all stormy. It was over in roughly two seconds, but that was about her attention span anyway. [ It's as much calling out his tumultuous mood as it is a passing attempt to call out the water sprite's for mussing up his hair. ]

[noneforall]

I am told that Japanese cuisine is common in California, where this house presumably came from. Perhaps there's even a restaurant or two up the street.

[It's not like he immediately started looking things up by the time they arrived or anything, but given that he was one of the later arrivals it's not like he had much time nor signal to really get in-depth, either.

The hill is growing even more hills, the hills are alive, thus go the sights in San Jose, apparently. Speaking of sights, he'll follow the glance to the book and slowly raise an eyebrow.]

Sounds like rather unsatisfying quarry, really. A real storm would get all those windmills moving. [thoughtfully, because what they were talking about was satisfaction, after all; pleasantly, because his water has done nothing wrong in its unlife] All things considered, though, this one must have been good for blackmail and lies at least. The rest is a harder bet, I'd say.

[kaliedoscopes]

We're not inviting the rest of this house. [ Upgrade: delivery to dine-in? But he needs to state that apparently, a faint mote of light mixing with the exclusionary notes. ]

Mmhmm. [ He's not conceding the point entirely, but it is true that no one has managed to keep his attention for too long up to this point. ] But susceptibility to deceit has nothing to do with attractiveness, at least on a basic level. Like I said though, I wasn't interested.

[ aka: she was nice to look at but def too stupid for him to actually pursue something behind his reflexive otomeness. not to mention the rest of his everything. ]