1

[stubboarn]

Who ⬤ dimitri + u
What ⬤ APRIL CATCH-ALL / Night Parade / assassination / etc.
When ⬤ all month
Where ⬤ [ hand gestures ]
Content Warnings ⬤ none right now, i'll update as they come up.



ooc. prompts are going to be in the comments, just hit me up where you feel like it. if you want something else, feel free to pm me and we can hash it out. here is my plotting toplevel!

Comments

[stubboarn]

Yes, but death isn't the worse thing to happen to anyone. [ hm. ]

... and are you sure? I didn't read anything about that kind of rule.

[ it sounds correct, but who's to say that that's the case, really? it doesn't seem like there's thought being put into the fortunes as they just keep tossing it to the crowd. ]

Wait here. I will try and see if I can get something else.

[ he will definitely brave the masses of sweaty bodies to get another fortune. ]

[silentscout]

Death is not the worst thing, no. But death is irreversible.

[Go brave those sweaty bodies, Dimitri. Lalli will perch himself on a bench and just wait. He's not going back into that crowd, nope.]

[stubboarn]

... that's a bit difficult to guarantee in a place like this, though I'd rather not try.

Anyway, I'll be back.

[ he braves the sweatie bodies. he comes back, hair disheveled, panting, looking glum. ]

I was not successful. [ the fortune he got was the same as he originally received earlier. maybe this was a sign ...! ]

[silentscout]

[Oh look at that, same fortune again!]

I thought so.

[And Dimitri paid the price by being surrounded by sweaty people.]

[stubboarn]

You try it then. Perhaps you'll be luckier than I am?

[ dimitri just takes out a snack for himself, since it was a bit exhausting trying to go thru the crowd. he offers it to lalli - it's rice crackers with a touch of sugar. ]

[silentscout]

[Lalli does not go to face the crowds.

But he does take a cracker. Crackers are an acceptable food, he will eat those.]

I think the point is that we have bad luck and won't 'be luckier'.

[stubboarn]

I don't really know if I can accept that ...

[ he sighs. ] I will keep it for now, as a terrible memento of the festival. I'm sure there will be others to come and hopefully I'll get a better fortune then.

[ he eats the snacks with lalli, enjoying the break they have for now before he has to go back to work. ]

How've you been?

[silentscout]

Bad fortune first, good fortune later.

[Something something they can only go up from here.]

It's noisy and they make us work a lot. Even as a night scout I still got days off.

[stubboarn]

Well, we are in debt and we have no power in our factions. That's to be expected, sadly.

[ dimitri sighs. ]

They do provide entertainment, so ... it's not always bad.

[silentscout]

[They are indeed in debt, and even if it's a debt Lalli agreed to, he still doesn't like it so much.]

It's too different. I'm not ever going back home, but the places I end up shouldn't be so different.

[There's a subtle change in Lalli's demeanor there, and his gaze grows distant. Like he's thinking of things outside of their current situation.]

[stubboarn]

[ he laughs softly. ]

If we had the choice in it, I'm sure we wouldn't be here. Or have chosen such a city.

[ he stares up at the sky. ] Even the stars seem rather different here - if you can see them at all. The city is too bright, most of the time ... even in the night.

[silentscout]

[When Dimitri says that, Lalli looks up to the sky as well. It's true, with the light pollution here it's impossible to see the large swath of stars Lalli would have seen back in his world. For a moment, it makes him feel a pang of homesickness, but he quickly shoves that away. Even if he found a way back to his world, he can never go home. There's no point to missing something you'll never be able to have again.]

Bright places mean that it's safe enough for lots of people to live together, without fear of death or disease. So it's good that we can't see most of the stars. It's safe here.

[Or, well. 'Safe'. There's other dangers here, but the primary danger Lalli always keeps in mind isn't a threat here.]

[stubboarn]

Is that right?

[ dimitri smiles at him. ] I would much rather be able to see the stars. While I am fascinated by everything, I find myself missing the wildness of nature.

Too much of the concrete and the modern ... it isn't always good for the soul. There needs to be a quiet place where one can just think.

[ 'safe' is a funny word, though, but he gets it well enough when used to describe the place. ]

[silentscout]

[He's a little surprised by that- Lalli never took Dimitri for one to spend a lot of time in the wilderness- and he glances over at Dimitri to really look at him finally.

The motivations for it are a little different for Lalli, what with his whole world's workings being defined by the presence of the undead and how best to keep them from encroaching on what remains of humanity, but he kind of gets Dimitri's sentiments. Lalli grew up in the wilds of Finland because he's from a family of mages that protects the dwindling Finnish population and cleanses the souls trapped in their husks on Earth. He spent entire summers trekking through the wilds, making camp and carefully documenting which areas were still free of corruption and which ones needed to be cleansed again. He's more comfortable when surrounded by trees and rivers and lakes, and the modern touches of Jigoku-cho remind him of the crumbling monuments to the Old World and the dangers they bring.

So, though it's for different reasons, Lalli does appreciate missing the familiarity of nature. He just didn't expect to find someone else who did too.]

I didn't know you were 'of the forest' too. Are you a mage, or a cleanser, or something like that?