[ SEMI-CLOSED ] with your demons and mine, i've been yours from the start

[kaientai]

Who ⬤ Sakamoto Ryouma + various
What ⬤ A horrible time to have a curse + some fun in the sun
When ⬤ June~
Where ⬤ All over!
Content Warnings ⬤ It's raining blood! Violence! Corruption! The baseline assumption here is that a lot will come up but I will specifically content warn for anything particularly noteworthy that wouldn't fall under the horror umbrella of the event itself. Beach-related prompts probably involve alcohol, stupidity, and assorted shenanigans. Will also warn accordingly!

[ ooc; if you'd like a custom starter and wanna plot something out, hmu @ koutenko or pm this journal! ]

Comments

[bratherine]

( She shouldn't still be out here, that much she knows. But the hallucinations have already tried their bullshit and she's learned the lesson most important to her survival in these darkened streets:

Stay away from the walls. Away from the corners. Away from anything that can leave her trapped and caught.

So it's fine. It's fucking fine. She can handle the blood rain, the whispers following her (mostly Grace's voice, but sometimes others crop up, always with the same message: useless, broken little girl). What she can't handle is the idea of sitting idle and letting her thoughts consume her.

Which is why she's out and about, half-stubborn, half-trying to be anything but useless in this moment, looking for anyone who might need to be snapped out of their delusions. Not like she's good at that, but it's better than thinking about her own.

And then there's a familiar voice, and face, right in front of her. )

Speak for yourself.

( Holy shit, Ryouma, you look like crap. Does she look that bad? Probably. God knows it feels like every inch of her clothes have been soaked in blood by now, and there's still a stiffness in her shoulders, a twitch in her hands, and the painful ache of her jaw and teeth where she's gritted them too hard for too long to block out those whispers. )

How long you been out here?

[kaientai]

I've gotta job to do.

[ which doesn't answer the question, but kate can probably glean from the overall picture that it's been long enough for the problem to be more than surface level, although ryouma will maintain there isn't one. it's just difficult to see what's what under the blood he's covered in, else it might be more obvious. he can't hide the way his eyes look though, since they aren't usually such a bright shade of gold that they seem to glow. never mind the cat-like quality they never had before. nothing to worry about! ]

Y' even got a weapon on ya?

[ he's not thinking straight to begin with, so minding his accent goes right out the window. however that translates, it's different. he sounds like izō. ]

[bratherine]

( Yeah. There's a whole lot wrong here, she can see that even through all this fucking blood. Her eyes narrow, lips thinning, the taste of blood seeping into her mouth again as she takes a step closer.

Ugh. She fucking hates this. )

Aye. ( She doesn't take it out, but there's a knife in her bag, and there has been one since a few days after he took her to the clinic. Insurance for a place where shit like this happens.

Admittedly, it's not exactly been effective for dealing with her current problems, but it feels better to know that weight is there. )

Jobs make you take breaks.

( What is it that's so familiar about his voice right now? It's not the same voice she's used to hearing from his mouth, but it feels so familiar nonetheless. Like she's heard that accent somewhere before.

(At least that puzzle is a nice distraction from those continuing, whispered taunts —bet your parents are so proud, Kat!) )

[kaientai]

Ain't that kinda job. Anyway, it's up to me. I gotta save 'em this time...

[ he doesn't believe in taking breaks, especially now. that's probably one reason he ended up in this mess. things always get in your head worse when you're sleep-deprived.

never mind where he's developing a saviour complex over this. in his defence: he's not thinking right. ]

The 'bullshit' got a major upgrade, like it or not, so y' really don't wanna be here. We'll walk ya back.

[ yes, we. ]

[bratherine]

( She knows it was a lame retort, but this whole thing is unnerving and Ryouma doesn't look like himself. Doesn't act like himself. Or at least, not like the version of himself Kate's come to know.

But she's not exactly wrong. No one's getting saved if he's out here losing it instead of resting.

Shame she doesn't think of that point before certain phrasing distracts from the argument of whether he should be out here (and no, it's not a question of whether she should be. She's fine. Those whispers, the exhaustion and fraying of her edges, are just inconveniences). )

Who's we?

( Dude. There's no one else here. )

[kaientai]

Me and Oryou-san.

[ "she" appears as if on cue, leaning on his shoulders. she might've just climbed right out of his back for all that there had never anyone else there a minute ago. ryouma looks perfectly content about this development. ]

We were separated when I got here. I finally found her!

[bratherine]

( Her eyes narrow. This is clearly supposed to be a happy thing for Ryouma, but isn't it just too convenient in the middle of this rain?

And where the hell was she hiding anyway?

Kate takes another step closer, the sight of this stranger a convenient distraction from the voices following her. Her hand curls around the zipper of her bag. Just in case. Because there are threats here, everywhere. Whether this Oryou is or not, there are still other things out here.

Like the shadow that licks at her ankle as she moves. )

When'd she get here?

( Should you address a possible-hallucination directly? Kate would rather not chance it. )

[kaientai]

Oh... not too long ago? But I knew! I always knew she'd come. I waited for her.

[ these are all the things he desperately wants to believe are true. he's an easy mark. ]

She keeps the others away, too. Like the ones you pretend you don't know about.

[ because it's all connected; "oryou" tells him things. ]

[bratherine]

( Nope. She really doesn't like this. That prod at her own problems (are the shadows moving, hands ready to grab and pin her down? No. No, it's fine. As long as she keeps herself away from walls and corners, it'll be fine) can't be ignored, jaw tight and eyes wide as her fingers twist the charm on her bag's zipper.

Dammit. Dammit. Fucking dammit. Ryouma's a likeable enough guy, but Kate doesn't have a read on how well he'll listen to reason. How well anyone would listen to reason in this night.

(Her throat's still sore from screeching at Andy, after all.) )

...I-isn't that... weird? ( She could yell to the heavens what seems obvious — that Oryou is suspicious as all hell — but she doesn't.

Maybe because she recognises a little bit of herself in the way Ryouma clings to that comfort of a familiar presence. The one who was responsible for her contract, who'd throw herself directly at the obvious warning signs if they looked like her parents. )

How come she can do that? Keep 'em away?

( She hasn't seen anyone else who can. )

[kaientai]

[ ryouma smiles and even that seems different. it's true that often enough he'll smile and it won't reach his eyes, but in that case, it's usually because he's sad. whatever's got into his head thinks it's amusing that she reacted to his words. ]

Because she always protects me. I trust her with my life.

[ so it's debatable as to whether this "oryou" really can or if he just places that much trust in her implicitly. ]

It beats being out here all by yourself, doesn't it?

[bratherine]

( He's a distraction, and a successful one at that. The sheer dissonance of the man she's known Ryouma to be and this one — off in just enough ways as to be unsettling, attached to the phantom at his back — keeps Kate too focused on what's in front of her to think about the world around them.

The ground softens instantaneously, shifting from city pavement to something loose, slippy, trying its damnedest to catch the souls atop it. )

What the—

( The shadows grow out, reaching, reaching again to try and wrap around ankles and legs, catching Kate as she scrambles to get away from the loose group and tripping her forwards into Ryouma.

Well, if there was any time to prove what Oryou can do, it'd be now, because those shadows don't seem content with simply tripping, reaching out with spindly fingers crafted by something that's clearly never seen a hand, grabbing at anything, and anyone, that's in their vicinity. )