[OPEN] someone please suggest cut text and subject title for me

[mahoraga]

Who ⬤ Megumi and awesome people (YOU)
What ⬤ May catch-all - substories, IC Mingle log, Megumi's part-time job, anything else that comes up
When ⬤ Throughout May
Where ⬤ Various places
Content Warnings ⬤ N/A - will add as I go


SUBSTORY #1: thanks mods i happen to love body heat meme

[ This is just about the last time he takes free food from anyone, even if they look like a harmless rabbit. Curse his slight fondness for rabbits. While Megumi went a good half hour with no side effects, the chill gradually sets in after that, his long-sleeved clothing and large collar that usually keep him fairly warm no longer making the cut. The worst part is, the effects set in right in the middle of the busy pavement. He would be able to deal with this better if he could wrap himself up at home.

Megumi tries to tough it out for as long as he is able to, arms wrapping around himself as he tries to keep the shivers at bay. He doesn't particularly like to draw attention to himself or make people worry about him, but it's hard to walk normally when the chill seems to have permeated every inch of his body. ]

What did she feed me ... [ Another day he wishes he could summon Divine Dog. Their fur would actually feel divine right about now.

Eventually, his hands seem to seek heat on their own, grabbing the sleeve of someone nearby to give them a light tug closer. ]

SUBSTORY #2: the one with the butts and wild goose chase

[ As if life couldn't get any harder, upon Megumi's refusal to help it with its pointless request, the shirime in all its eye-in-butt glory has taken to following him around, harassing him with its request incessantly.

"So, you'll help me, right? Hey, are you listening? Will you help me? I want the A5! You'll help me, right?"

There's only so much of being followed around and pestered that a boy can take. He doesn't even know which vending machine the shirime is talking about and it keeps ignoring the question when he asks.

There's only one way to solve this problem: Pawn it on someone else. Though he feels a little bad about this, there's no other choice. Megumi addresses whoever might be nearby, thumbing at the silly-looking yokai who's following him. ]

You. Can you help him?

IC MINGLE #1: welcome wagon

[ Megumi doesn't particularly care about movies, preferring to spend his evenings with a good book. When he does watch movies, it's when he's being roped into it by someone else.

He doesn't have much interest in using the movie ticket but it also feels like a waste to throw it away when someone else might want to use it. Anyone who's hovering around the theater will be approached by a tall young man with a deadpan expression. He straight up puts his ticket in your hand. ]

Here. Enjoy.

IC MINGLE #2: haniwa dolls

[ As the night goes on, and the partying locals and lost souls continue to drink themselves silly, a lot of people are focused on having a good time and paying less and less attention to the sporadically emerging dolls. They were creepy at first, but after the fourth time you see one popping up, it becomes a bit easier to ignore, apparently. It's because people are paying less attention that they're being less cautious and allowing themselves to be exposed to its cursed effects.

At a local nightclub, a fight seems to have broken out, a wolf demon randomly breaking out into some paranoid hysteria about everyone else's faces changing, and charging at the other patrons with his sharp claws. At the center of it all is a haniwa figure, and though Megumi's spiritual senses have dulled immensely, he can still pick up its off-putting, dreadful aura.

The other patrons, some also succumbing to the hallucinations, are obviously going to return in kind. A bottle thrown by one of the angry patrons sails through the air towards your character. Before it can hit, they'll be yanked to the side by a young man with dark hair. ]

I have to get rid of that figure. [ He turns to the person he's grabbing now. ] Go somewhere else.

[ He can handle this!!! (Allegedly ... )

ooc: As a note, Megumi is a helpful boy who will be trying to remove the statues as advised by Enma. He might succumb to the effects after a while and i'm happy to plot it out with whoever ]

PART TIME JOB: book shop boys (later in the month)

[ Megumi has found a part-time job at a local bookstore in the Sutoku Alliance. There are books of all sorts available, and the colourful and upbeat members of the staff (with the exception of .. Megumi, who stands out with how quiet he is by comparison) are always ready to help out.

A: If your character looks unsure of what they want to browse, they'll be approached by a quiet young man in a blue apron, who will point at one particular book in the non-fiction section. ]

This one wasn't bad.

[ The title reads 'Everything You Need to Know About Concrete Engineering'. That's ... so boring, why would anyone (who isn't a builder) ever read it??? ]

[ B: Or, if your character happened to wander near the shelves behind some bashful yuki-onna who quickly takes off and leaves, they might get falsely accused of a book-related crime.

Megumi will approach them with a book in hand (a romance story, apparently) and open up the cover. Written on the pages are the romantic exchanges between two regular patrons, who have chosen to trade their love notes through this one book.

The latest one reads "There isn't a day I go on without thinking about you. I long for the touch of your fingers, to hear the sound of your voice. My heart can take no more of this cruel fate that separates us."

Love between enemy faction members? Whatever, he doesn't care. Megumi looks very unimpressed. ]

Please have your love affair somewhere else.

[ OOC: Do something else with me??? You can reach me via PM or at charsiu (feel free to add) ]

Comments

[mahoraga]

[ He ... stops at the little squeak, checking himself immediately and not really wanting to overstep boundaries. It's nice to not be the only one who gets flustered, though (even if he would never admit to being flustered). Just leaning is fine too. The company isn't annoying, and he's getting enough warmth to subdue the effects.

There's a sigh. The topic is known to him at least. ]

The ones I'm familiar with are more dangerous. They eat people. [ He doesn't know how he feels about giving people roofies, but being drugged into wanting physical warmth isn't quite as bad as ... being eaten alive. ]

[sweetsong]

... eh?! They eat people?!

[ he's pretty sure the youkai can do that here, too. it wouldn't be the first time he heard grumblings at the bar, or at the tables, or even whispered in the backrooms where some people decided to be... pretty not clandestine about their behavior. ]

Wait, so you're used to... that really gives you an advantage, huh.

[ very slowly, robin wraps one arm around megumi's side. to keep him anchored. ]

I've never seen spirits do that back home. If I did... I think we would've tried stopping them.

[mahoraga]

[ Maybe it does give him a bit of an advantage because he isn't phased by anything in Hell, but things seem to work differently at least. A lot of the youkai here are more or less regular citizens, and not about to devour someone today. He lets out an exhale when Robin increases the contact, getting used to it now at least. ]

So you could see spirits back home as well ...?

[sweetsong]

Kind of! I mean, I never thought vampires were real until I became one. Things become a little more clearer when you...

[ robin blinks a few times. rubs his eyes, shakes his head. tilts it a little in one direction--- away from the spiky and dangerous points. ]

... um. Well. [ a pause. ] Yeah.

[mahoraga]

[ He feels like a huge detail was just dropped on him casually. ]

So you're a vampire.

[sweetsong]

[ robin casually makes a gentle popping with his lips, trying to avoid eye contact. ]

Mhm! Do you... do you know what vampires are...?

[ hey maybe he doesn't. maybe robin can avoid the judgement or the fear part? apparently vampires are supposed to be scary...

and he's not! but he knows a few that are. ]

[mahoraga]

I know that you drink blood to survive.

[ Said in a very matter-of-fact way, with no delicacy. With Megumi's stoic expression, it's difficult to tell his feelings on that. Truthfully, he's the type to judge people based on their actions rather than ... what they are. ]

[sweetsong]

Well, that's true...

[ to an extent. the bubblegum pink vampire quietly rocks from side to side. ]

... but I haven't needed any. I think the older you are, the more you probably need?

[ he is babby. ]

[mahoraga]

Is that how it works ... [ Going to file that away in the filing cabinet of his big brain under 'Vampires'. ]

What will you do when you start needing it? [ It might not be relevant for a while, but he's curious about what sort of person Robin is. So far, they seem so kind. ]

[sweetsong]

[ big brain to go with the big hair, huh? ]

I'll... ask a friend if I can bite them. [ a beat, then: ] I promise I can't turn anyone here! I'm still too young for that, and... and.

[ now robin has to look away. ]

When I got bitten? It felt really good.

[mahoraga]

[ THIS IS TMI??? Megumi freezes when the implications sink in, and he's mildly scandalized, unsure of what to say in response to that. ]

... I didn't need to know that.

[sweetsong]

[ is it really TMI??? robin laughs and shrugs. ]

Better to know than not know.

[ because what if he had to chomp on megumi... blinks a few times. ]