IC-OP-1 ("finding footing" | open)

[camyoflage]

Who ⬤ Ethan
What ⬤ March Sub-stories (Kappa Investigation & Hashihime)
When ⬤ Pre- Night Parade
Where ⬤ Waterways around Jigoku-Cho
Content Warnings ⬤ naughty boy doing graffiti (will warn for additional if they come up)


A. Fraternizing

[If you're one of the people trying to direct approach with the Kappa, you'll likely encounter Ethan. He's been trying to get along with the fellow members of his clan and that translated into being a nuisance to most of them. At this point, though, he's at least gotten the idea that he needs to bring something to the table in order to get any information.]

Ah, yeah, so not Savra, not Aegir... It's taking me a while to get used to all this new terminology! You're such a good guy, describing it to me, that's why I like you!

[... like the one he's managed to at least hold a conversation with while they both snack on taiyaki, brought by Ethan. Anytime he asks a question about the actual state of the tunnels the conversation dries up (pun intended) so he keeps it to general topics. Anything helped.]

But you Kappa got different tribes? Okay, so you all are "River Kappa"... what's the difference? Or are you all just better?

[he snickers conspiratorially]

[While he's chatting them up, he'll try and also serve as a blockade, to show how absolutely loyal and trustworthy he is. So, your investigation may be met with,]

Ah, sorry, no can do. Strictly off-limits unless you happen to be a Kappa.

[the guard he's been plying sighs dramatically, reminds him that's not his job, reminds him that he doesn't get to go in either]

What? What? I'm just helping!

B. Warning

[Jigoku-Cho's nights are longer than normal. That suits Ethan fine. He's lost his normal invisibility so the shadows are going to have to play cover-up for him.]

[He's bought himself a new set of clothes, a lot closer to what he used to wear, and as he stalks around he also concentrates to shift the color of his hair and tail to black. The result is a very hard-to-see figure hanging off of high spaces and bouncing around the waterways. He's keeping an eye on things. It wasn't his business, it wasn't even what his higher-ups wanted, but it was weird. People who cut others out of their plans usually had something kinda mean about their plans.]

[He's not the kind of person to make a decision and go in all by himself. He knows he doesn't have the strength for that. So, he does what he's always done when he lacks the strength, and found himself some cheap spray paint.]

[He leaves a mark around the areas he spots the Kappa moving boxes. A clear signal for anyone looking for it but still vague enough he could get away with it.]

[Of course, the pop of blue appearing is a dead give away and everyone else has been tasked with preventing trouble-makers. He's just as likely to end up on the run.]

C. Community Service

[Sometimes, when you indulge old habits, they start to take off on their own. Tagging to mark locations starts to get to him, he picks up in the swell of it, and he wants to vent some of the pressure from being put into this new, ridiculous situation. He wants to leave a mark, his voice without a voice, so on, so forth.]

[He had entirely meant to be on the side of the bridge youkai! His tag, a bold "FASHION JACKASS" was totally meant to be talking about the guy who was bothering them. Just, you know, he defaced the bridge to write it and one of the sharp-eyed youkai had caught him.]

Sorry, ma'am, I wasn't thinking, ma'am, please, please don't go telling anyone, ma'am.

[Getting in trouble for graffiti was one thing, but if the hashihime told his higher-ups, he'd probably also get in trouble for sneaking around the waterways and observing in the first place.]

[So, he's taking this lecture straight on the nose, promising to clean it up, and now he's also stuck at the bridge for a while, wiping off his own marks with a chemical cleaner. At least he's on-site in case the jacket asshole shows up. Or, you know, on display if someone wants to laugh.]

D. Wildcard

[Hit me up via PM or at slothplaying if you're interested in threading but none of these work for you!]

Comments

[everblooms]

[ Chuckling, she scrubs away at the tag with vigor. It bleeds spray paint into her palms, staining them. She's used to getting her hands dirty, though. Garden soil has never been easily to clean out of her clothes, or from her fingers. ]

Sewers aren't so bad. [ Suds are accumulating, building in clouds. Her voice is fluid and clear. She's thought about this a lot. ] Sometimes, you spot people down there for their own reasons. [ The statement is punctuated with a shrug. ] I haven't been down there yet, buuuut, I guess that's why the Kappa have such an interest in it.

[ Harbors many secrets. ]

I'm sure your delicate little rose bud nostrils couldn't handle it though. [ Just for emphasis, she flexes her muscles!

There aren't any muscles.

She's just flexing her arm. ]

[camyoflage]

[Look, her words wound him enough! He's a delicate flower in the face of her powerful muscles. Ethan laughs again, lips crinkled up in a grin.]

Look, I've been in plenty of places that have smelled pretty bad. I don't wanna brag about it. It'd be pretty weird to brag about it.

[Usually, if he was in a place like that, he had other things on his mind. The way Aerith describes it, it does sound kind of serendipitous. When you go the places no one else wants to go, you meet the people no one else wants to meet. And then you've got something in common. He looks at a place on the bridge that's probably cleaner now than it's been in ten years.]

Careful if you're going around this one, though, I don't want my friends getting in trouble with my bosses.

[He's pretty sure that if he tells Aerith to avoid the place, she's not gonna take that well. She was clearly an expert at her own turf and wasn't wasting time on mastering this place either. So, don't forbid it, just let her know that the Alliance has eyes on it.]

[everblooms]

[ Is it weird? She wonders. ] It's not weird. It's adventurous.

[ Yeah, she's completely convinced.

That confidence is sapped out of her near immediately when he calls her a friend. She almost points to herself and questions it, but there's no third person in this conversation. She looks down, unable to suddenly look where she might see his hand; for all the popularity she experienced in the slums, it still catches in her heart when someone calls her a friend. Perhaps it's something rooted in her childhood, locked away from everyone and the world. ]

Hmm... Sure you should be saying this when I'm helping you wash the graffiti you left up?

[ Just saying. ]

[camyoflage]

[Ethan would just rather not spend a lot of time in a poorly ventilated room with people who brag about the smelliest places they've been. All the same.]

[He's not thinking it's a big deal, so he only catches the tail-end of Aerith avoiding looking over at him. Of course, there were only two people in this conversation, and from his perspective the one who should have gratitude for "friend" status would be him... he's, like, a solid 7/10 on his own personal scale but people would probably drag out a different scale entirely to put Aerith on. So, it's a good thing he misses most of that, so he doesn't get it in his head to take it back.]

Hah! That's me getting it trouble with- well, hopefully not getting in trouble with my bosses. You make a mess, you clean it up, everything's forgiven, right, Bridge-sis?

[he knocks his tail against the underside of the bridge, meriting a huff from the hashihime underneath]

See? That's a lot simpler than getting in trouble with a whole mess of Kappa.

[everblooms]

Hmm. I dunno... the kappa are pretty cute. [ She says, about the youkai who love eating entrails. She'd say 'bridge-sis' is a pretty cute nickname, too, even as the hashihime huffs her disapproval. Somehow, even that sounds petty coming from her. ]

Don't worry about her, I'll be your Bridge-sis instead. Sound good?

[ Leaning back, she adjusts her legs, making sure the soap and water won't run through the light fabric. ]

[camyoflage]

[Ethan's lip curls up. He maybe hasn't caught wind of the entrail-eating thing yet, he doesn't really wanna think about someone serving up guts stir fry or something like that. Still, when people lined him up next to the other Lost Souls they were more likely to put him on the "youkai" side.]

[So, he's absolutely taking it as a compliment himself.]

You as a Bridge-sis? Huh, [he considers it,]

Aerith-sis... Or, since we met looking at them, Kettle-sis? Or, [he gestures to the top of her head] Bow-sis?

Hehe, you can tell I'm not used to tacking that on for people I've actually met.

[He stops, with an idea, and smacks his fist against his other hand to emphasize it.]

Sewers-sis! [Is it a sincere suggestion? Nah. Is it funny to him in the moment? Very/]

[everblooms]

[ Joining him in laughing, Aerith has to lean back on her palms to keep herself balanced. More than anything, it's infectious when someone laughs so joyously and openly around her. ] Okay, maaaaaaaybe not Sewers-sis, but any of those sounds fun to me.

[ Her laughter subsides eventually, making way for her to pose a sincere question. ] Hey, Ethan. You give everyone you meet nicknames, huh?