April catchall + Night Parade

[silentscout]

Who ⬤ Lalli Hotakainen + you
What ⬤ A few prompts for April, mostly Night Parade stuff but some other things too
When ⬤ Throughout all of April
Where ⬤ All over the place
Content Warnings ⬤ violence in a couple of the prompts



Actual prompts in the comments below! If you want to write a starter for us, feel free to do so.

Comments

Bad Luck

[silentscout]

[In the chaos of the assassination and subsequent work demands, Lalli had completely forgotten about his 'bad luck' draw a few days prior. After all, it was such a small thing, who's to blame him for not keeping up with the suspicions?

In the early evening though, he quickly finds out that he should have paid more attention to that bad luck. All it takes is one mis-step, one bump of his elbow into a stack of cans, to alert the nearby youkai that someone is scoping out their building. Lalli doesn't even wait to see who heard the noise he made. He's turning and running as soon as his cover is blown. With his cloak up and his swift movements, it's not likely that they'll get a clear view of him anyway.

The bad luck doesn't stop there, though. As he runs, he finds himself stumbling over obstacles, tripping up in drying lines and other hazards. There's shouting, and Lalli definitely feels something sharp pierce one of his arms, but he doesn't have time to stop and take care of himself. He clamps a hand over his now-bleeding arm to keep it from dripping onto the ground and leaving a trail, and then he dodges his way through a few more alleys.

Eventually he finds an open window and dives through it, not caring who is there or what they might see. Lalli just stays low, under the windowsill, and presses himself against the wall to make himself as tiny as possible. The youkai run past the window yelling about 'check around that corner, they can't have gone far', and soon the footsteps grow quiet and distant.

Lalli has enough time to breathe a sigh of relief. Then he looks up, and he freezes once more.

Someone else is in here with him. Hi, random person, hope you don't mind this gremlin bleeding all over your floor.]

lalli i am so sorry

[metafictions]

[Lalli's run as far as Shuten territory when he makes his escape from the youkai who pursue him. It's a western-style room that he stumbles into, and it might take a second to register that it's actually inhabited: though it's impeccably clean, it's also almost completely bare. Apart from a futon in the corner, a mini-fridge and microwave, and a small dresser, there's really nothing of note in this shabby little apartment.

Minus its occupant, of course.

Lalli's host for the evening? A man with a blank stare and a silver left eye that seems to glint inhumanly in the dark. Kamui rises from where he sits on the futon, carefully grabbing a gun out of the top drawer of the dresser.]

Can I help you?

[silentscout]

[Thaaaat's a gun

To be fair, Lalli has a gun of his own- an old rifle is strapped to his back, in clear sight. But that gun isn't in his hands right now, and he really doesn't want to shoot another person with it anyway. He probably couldn't either, not with his injured shoulder. So he watches Kamui carefully, not making any sudden movements. With his distinctly not-human eyes, he looks rather catlike in his mannerisms right now.]

I don't want trouble.

[Can he dive back out the window? Possibly. But with the youkai running around outside looking for him, it's a risk. Just like staying here is a risk too.

Of course, he could just explain that he's a member of the department of the Enma and that he ran on the wrong side of a batch of youkai during an investigation and he just dove in the first window he found open, but that involves using his words. A skill he's notoriously bad at.]

[metafictions]

[With the gun still in his hand and a careful eye fixed on Lalli-- and his rifle-- Kamui slowly circles around to the open window.]

I'll let you stay for a while if you answer some questions for me.

[Silently, he closes the window and draws the curtains shut. One uninvited guest is more than enough for the night. At least he doesn't recognize the voices of any of his oni comrades out there, so he probably won't get in trouble for hiding... whoever this guy is.

Kamui's keeping that gun on him, but he's also reaching into a different drawer and pulling out a first aid kit. He's back at Lalli's side in a second, opening the kit and digging for something to clean that cut up with.]

What clan are you running from?

[silentscout]

[Lalli's eyes, in turn, are fixed on Kamui. He's still not moving except to speak and to watch the other man, but he's not letting Kamui out of his sight.]

...okay.

[He has nothing to hide, he can answer a few questions. Though he's surprised by a first aid kit coming out, he had thought he would have to wait until he got home to take care of his arm.]

I don't know. I was told to look for any kappa, and that's what I've been doing.

[The orders from the Enma didn't specify which clans to focus on, so he hasn't been paying attention to clan territory. A big mistake on his part.]

[metafictions]

So you’re an agent of the Enma.

[Lucky break. He hasn’t been able to reach his one Enma contact these last few days— not that he trusts Soma to be forthcoming with information, anyway— so he’s certainly very, very fortunate to have a lead stumbling in through the open window.

He’s got alcohol and cotton. Kamui busies himself cleaning the wound: good thing it’s not too deep, but—] This is Shuten territory. Tensions are really high. If they catch a whiff of your blood around here, they’d probably take it as the Enma interfering with oni business, rather than a lost agent. And then we’d all be in trouble.

[Kamui’s tone is neutral enough, now: they may as well be just chatting, guns aside.]

What have you found so far? Any kappa, any leads?

[silentscout]

[Part of Lalli is saying 'that's private information for the Enma', but another part of him is saying 'this guy could still shoot you, it's probably best to give him what you know.' It's not like what he knows is some big secret anyway, except for the part where some of it is.]

That's what I was looking for-

[He hisses at the wound-cleaning, but he steels himself and tries not to flinch.]

...that's what I was looking for: kappa, to get leads from them. I'm not arresting anybody or causing trouble, I'm supposed to look for people and tell the others where to find them.

[A scout, basically. Given his wiry frame and quiet voice, it's probably not surprising that Lalli doesn't want to be the one doing the questioning.]

[metafictions]

Just a pair of eyes, then.

[As much as first impressions can be deceiving (he himself is a smaller, quieter odd one out among the oni) he hums quietly, accepting the explanation. This part's not so secret, after all; no reason to lie when everyone knows that the Enma are after the kappa. At least not yet.]

I guess you have your work cut out for you: the kappa are certainly making themselves scarce. Have the Enma captured most of them already? Or has the hunt just begun?

[silentscout]

I don't know how many. But some.

[But also not all of them, given how Lalli is still out here working. There's something they still want to find out, and Lalli isn't one to ask questions. He just delivers results.]