antumbrac | After Trial Mingle

[ Obviously, Shiro isn't around for... quite some time. But when he does surface, he hangs around the bookstore. It's his usual haunt, after all, and even though he'd rather just go to his room and never emerge ever again, he figures there might be a couple people who'd like to see how he's doing.

Not well, basically. The change isn't as overt as Seteth's, but it bothers him for a reason he knows well but doesn't want to explain. On his neck, there are dark patches, and under the light, they seem to look a little...

You can see his veins. Yeah. It's not great. Also of note is the fact that those veins? They're bright cyan blue.

It's not the appearance that bugs him, though it invites thoughts he thought he'd long since banished. And more than that, what bothers him the most, what he hates most, is that he can't feel anything where the black patches are. He'd just gotten used to having a body and feeling sensations that this, the complete deadening of that... it ain't pleasant.

Either way, he's here, and he won't turn away anyone who chooses to approach. ]

[ Rideaux has claimed the jazz bar for the night after the trial, and the door may or may not be locked if anyone attempts to come by.

Fuck off, he deserves this. ]

[Zangetsu didn't even stay for the execution. He didn't want to see it. Didn't want to think about it. In fact, he's leaving the opera house in something of a hurry and making his way back to the clergy housing.

If you want to talk to him, you'll have to be quick.]

[Not long after making sure Iago safely got to their shared room, Dist stops by the bar. He has a pretty good hunch that Rideaux will be here, and it turns out to be a correct one...though the locked door kind of puts a damper on his plans.

Fuck it, he's knocking.]

Rideaux, please open up.

[ He's actually here to look for a recipe book when he spots Shiro. He can't really help but to slide his gaze across him, searching for the more overt signs. No spines sticking out of his back, no tail poking out from his pants... hmm... Then he sees that glow from his neck, and the dark blotches. ~~body horror hickey~~

He'll walk up to him. ]

You can see the higher shelves better than I can~ Help me find some cook books.

[ ~~it ain't wrong~~

He's so caught up in his thoughts that he startles just the slightest when Dazai sidles on up to him. It's subtle, but very much there. Then, he nods. ]

Anything in particular you want?

[ bar's closed, sorry!! ]

[ He's going to pretend he didn't catch Shiro unawares. ]

Was hoping to find something on Japanese dishes.

[ He has doubts he can find any, but it doesn't hurt to try. ]

[He's not giving up, damn it!!

<--to be continued--]

[ Bless you, Dazai. ]

Let's take a look, then.

[ ... which will take a while!! While he looks-- ]

How are you doing?

[ Stuffing his hands in his pockets, preparing to just let Shiro do all of the looking.

Making a low hum sound as he considers it. ]

I'm doing about the same. What about you?

[ And funnily enough, he doesn't mind. ]

I could be doing better, but it could be worse.

[ ... which is technically true but he's very much full of shit ]

Could definitely be worse. She didn't add a tail or changed your face.

[ Time to just hit the elephant in the room square on. ]

... Yeah.

[ His hand stills for a moment, and he glances at Dazai. ]

All things considered, I got off pretty lucky.

[ Rean had been on the lookout for certain people since trial, so here he was. He'll approach the other, a small frown on his face, and eyebrows creased in worry. ]

Shiro? How are you feeling...after all of that?

[ It was easy to think the man bothered, considering he left so soon following that execution, and on his way to the clergy housing he'll catch Zangetsu with that thought on his mind. ]

...Zangetsu? Can we talk?

[ There's a beat as he meets his look. ]

Do you really count it as lucky? [ There's a pause. ] It did help. I don't think we would have figured it out if it wasn't for those clues.

[ But you're a lizard, harry ]

[ KNOCK KNOCK ]

Hello~ I'm here for my order of whiskey.

[ Let him in ]

[ The good part of having realized and accepted that you're not going to get out of something alive is that it brings with it some kind of clarity and calm. If he'd remained in his prison cell, Mikami is sure he might have reached this conclusion much faster. It was the seeming freedom of Krakow that made him cling to his life, believe in the vague idea that there might have been some sort of mistake. There isn't, he knows this now.

Mind-control and memory loss, the name he should not have known, the handcuffs, the warehouse, the dead body of a man who inspired so much feeling in him that it made him feel sick.... There's only so many conclusions this leaves. Mikami has decided not to fight them anymore.

He's failed. He's failed on every imaginable level. In some twisted way, this place is proving to be his last chance of making a use out of what remains of his life. He's guilty, but the Lady and Rembrandt are more so.

During much of the weekend Mikami can be found walking the city, a notebook in hand. The page he's on is mostly empty yet, so he doesn't seem to have a concrete plan here. It's just scouting. Wherever you are, whatever you may be doing, it's possible Mikami will walk in on it. ]

[ Dazai is in the laundromat, climbing into the washer machine. He has one leg already inside of the barrel of the machine, his hands are on the rim, and he's lifting his other leg up just as Mikami walks in. Pausing to stare at him.

hewwo

He sees that notebook. ]

Are you taking notes?

[ The temptation to simply walk out again is... very high. ]

Yes, to remind myself to not use that machine again. What are you doing?

[ Rean hadn't been blind to the display, confirming he had no home to return to...among other things.

So he sought the other out. ]

Mikami? Mind if I ask what you're up to?

[ It's a washing machine. The mafia germs will come off after a cycle or two ]

Wanted to see if I could fit.

[ For reasons~~*~*~*~ One leggy is still hanging out.

Just going to turn around and then pull his leg out of the barrel to sit on the edge of the machine instead. ]

[Well, that was certainly a thing. Less so for the emotional turmoil of the trial itself and more so for... watching half the Survivors end up in depressive episodes? Well, it's not really surprising, given anyone would likely end up a depressed mess after watching their numbers slowly decrease like this, but damn.

He's going to head to the church to put his thoughts together, where he sits and a pew and looks at nothing in particular for a while before opening a notepad and just... kind of staring at it for a while. He's got to figure out something here...

Otherwise, he can be found in the opera house's upstairs stage practicing lance forms, making serviceable food in the kitchen, or relaxing in the aquarium.]

[ Contrary to that depressing admission, Mikami actually looks fairly refreshed. He gives Rean a nod in greeting. ]

I'm going over the whole town once again to make sure there's nothing I was missing. We've had a lot of distracting factors in all our time here, so we might not have seen things that would have been obvious to a clear mind.

After Trial Mingle

body horror babyyyyyy

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

bookstore

clergy housing;

no subject

no subject

cw suicidal ideation

no subject

no subject

walking the city;

no subject

no subject

no subject