[2 / open] you're the only one who makes me excited

[bratherine]

Who ⬤ Kate Galloway (bratherine) & maybe you?
What ⬤ timtam apartment shenanigans and sidequests substories
When ⬤ Throughout the month
Where ⬤ All over the city, check individual prompts for specific locations
Content Warnings ⬤ Mr. Libido / Stardust but probably nothing else!

— tamamornings.

Ugh!

( The noise any unfortunate fellow Lost Soul at the laundromat nearest the Tamamo starter apartments hears is the dulcet tones of one irritated teenager, yanking her work uniform out of the wash only to find...

Something's been eating holes through her shirt.

Fuck's sake. She actually tries with the laundry, for once in her life, because fuck knows Marc isn't here to foist that duty onto, and...

This.

She glares at the shirt, balling it up and dumping it in her washing basket, poking her head into the washing machine to try and figure out just how the fuck this happened.

Did you, uh, wanna use this machine? Or just figure out why this girl is so mad at her laundry? )

— substory: mr. libido.

substory description

Adult businesses throughout the city have been reporting a nearly naked man dancing outside their storefronts and harassing customers. Store employees can’t deal with him because he runs every time they take a step outside. They need your help to catch this pervert and make sure he doesn’t come back. Careful, he may think you’re like him and take a shine to you instead! You might not want to hear what kind of lurid talk he’s open to a friend about… Please help rid Jigokucho of this tighty-whitey clad menace!

Shut. Up.

( The sight of Mr. Libido is an unfortunately familiar one for far too many people, and in the continuing farce that is Kate's life, she just had to run into him while trying to get her grocery shopping done. Apparently, telling yet another practically naked idiot to fuck off is an invitation to hear way too much detail about why he's doing this particular dance.

Is this better or worse than getting into a fight with a naked dude? Honestly, it's a coin toss.

She continues to stalk her way back, bags heavy in her hands, as Mr. Libido bounds along to keep up, chattering all the while about **** and **** and *********.

Kate twitches.

Kate puts down her bags, yanks the breadstick out of one of them, and wields it like it was an actual weapon. It is not, but it's the closest thing she has at the minute. )

Fuck off already.

— substory: stardust.

substory description

With things seeming to get back to normal, there are preparations that need to be made for the next citywide festival: Tanabata! A little competition is being held between the factions to collect as much “Stardust” as possible in the lead up to the festival. “Stardust” is a magical fragment of the heavens that has fallen to the city at night. There are rewards for those who gather the most up, but exposure to a lot of Stardust can have some interesting effects. It increases the feelings of joy and satisfaction one gets from indulging in one’s desires; be it fighting, fucking, gambling, drinking, dancing, singing, or even just quiet meditation.

No wonder this stuff is so valuable and everyone’s trying to get their hands on it. Are you going to collect it for your faction, or are you going to try to sell it off to people in town who just want to vibe? Don’t get caught hawking the stuff by your faction, if so!

( Stardust glitters in the night. It's actually kind of fascinating, in a "shit that should be in a fantasy film" way. But more importantly than that, it's a kind of competition. And Kate can't say no to one of those.

It's easy to find her at dusk, using the last remnants of daylight to guide her across the walls and balconies of buildings, climbing above the streets of Jigokucho with well-placed jumps and practiced, fluid motion. She's become more used to the paths she can climb in the city, particularly in Tamamo district, but the further out she wanders, the more apparent it becomes that she needs time to plan her routes up and down rooftops, and it's an easy time to grab her, even if she's in the middle of plucking bits of stardust up and tossing them in a drawstring bag. It happens on the street when she chances upon that sparkle, but mostly? Mostly Kate is going onto the rooftops to clean stardust from there, assuming it's more likely to have an ample supply of the stuff than the streets where everyone walks.

And collecting ample supplies comes with its own drawbacks. Or perhaps bonuses, depending on how you look at it. The stardust is, after all, more than just sparkly. The delight floods her veins with each course she uses to jump from one rooftop to the next, each time she runs and the wind picks up in her ears. It's growing darker by the second, but it doesn't seem to matter.

She wants... She wants. God, what does she want? To have fun. To forget. To let everything but this feeling melt away into nothing, so she can simply be.

And, when Kate's happy, she's talkative. Anyone she runs into at this point will be greeted. Perhaps not enthusiastically, but with a certain gleam that isn't normally there. A lightness which suits her even as it comes across foreign and unfamiliar. )

Why're you out?

( A simple enough question. What are you up to, stranger? Or less stranger? )

— substory: stardust, part ii, magic kiss edition.

( Kate may not be out hunting for stardust in the daylight hours, but that doesn't mean the hunt is over. She's not about to ignore flecks of stardust which she stumbles across between errands, or on her way to work at the restaurant.

She's also not going to ignore fellow competitors, either. There's new strength flowing in her veins and an odd, intrinsic knowledge of just how much better that power Tenkohime gifted her has become. There's a good, if not reckless, mood which has overtaken her, no thanks to all the stardust collecting she herself has been doing.

So, wherever you may be, if you look like you're trying to grab some sparkly stuff, Kate walks right over and taps you on the shoulder.

First things first: determining whether this person is a fellow Tamamo, to be helped, or someone to be hindered. Her eyes scope out any type of identifying pins, or uniform, which may be worn, as well as whether she recognises said person from headquarters. )

Can help you with that, if you want.

( It's fine! Trust her. :) )

— wildcard.

( need / want something else? hit me! feel free to contact me (exits#8071 / exits) if you wanna chat things out. )

Comments

tamamornings

[mindthebass]

(he's actually going home. he did spend the last night out, and when sun's up, it's shin's time to go the fuck to sleep -- but, oh? it's kate, with a gloomy aura around her, he can see it through the window.

shin won't come in, he's smoking, there are some manners left in him regarding it, but... wow, kate...)

Who hurt you?

[bratherine]

( Gloomy auras are much more standard for her. Especially when her morning consists of laundry instead of anything good.

Extra especially when she shows Shin exactly why she's annoyed, holding up the shirt she just balled up. What would have been a perfectly fine, crisp white shirt, is chewed in several places, and thus unsalvageable. )

This thing— ( yes, she did kick the washing machine ) —fucked up my work uniform.

( She doesn't want to go get another, but she's going to have to. She only has two other copies of this exact outfit — white shirt, black pants and waistcoat, and a black tie. )

[mindthebass]

(oh, the rebellion of the youth. whereas she seems annoyed, shin's more or less the same, even if he's finding her gloom to be, well, pretty cute, actually. he gives his cigarette one last drag before flicking it - straight into the trashbin, mind everyone of his powers, before he comes in.)

Huh. You could try to get a refund from the laundromat, no?

[bratherine]

( That's besides the point. She needs some therapeutic grumpiness! )

Don't think 500 is gonna buy me a new shirt.

mr libido

[penalties]

[ This certainly is a sight to walk into, and almost certainly not for any good reasons. Of course, being new means getting situated--seeing the sights, the people, but... ]

You know, when a lady tells you to 'fuck off' with a breadstick in hand, that's about the time where you should really stop before someone gets real hurt.

[bratherine]

( The intrusion breaks some of the tension in the atmosphere, in Kate's shoulders, and she glances in the way of the stranger, about to say something when the oh so wonderful Mr. Libido pipes up. )

We're friends! She's as interested in *****, ******* and **** as me!

( Yeah, somehow those asterisks are really coming from his mouth. How? We don't know either. )

'e's a fuckin' nuisance, is what.

stardust i

[playfoul]

[ Yuri hadn't expected anyone else up here. It's off limits, after all, and he'd picked a lock to open the door to the rooftop where stardust pooled glittering and ripe for the taking. He was going to be in and out quick, but the view from up high is breathtaking and the stardust in excess, well, makes him more relaxed than he ought to be. He finds himself lingering for a moment of reflection (and scheming) under the night sky. ]

Same as you.

[ A pouch rests at his side where he sits, slouched casually against a water tank. She can't be a building manager. A teenager where she shouldn't be is his guess. Actually, he's seen that face before... ]

[bratherine]

( That makes sense. She'd imagine most people who are up here right now are out for the same, glittering thing. It's less competition than on the street, but it's still competition. That could be a problem, but she's made a good haul so far and the night is still young enough that she can take a moment to breathe.

And, more importantly, to try and jog her memory on this guy's face. Because it's certainly familiar, but his voice isn't.

Hm. )

You live in this building?

( Is this building even residential, actually? She's only seen it from this very angle. )

[playfoul]

Right downstairs. Seventh floor. I take it you're not a resident.

[ He's messing around. They're on the roof of an office building, and the only people who would be here at this hour would be those married to their work. Maybe she'll catch on. There aren't even seven floors in this building. He thinks she ought to recognize him eventually. A striking face like his isn't easily forgotten. ]

[bratherine]

( Well, logically speaking (ugh, why is her brother a nerd. It rubbed off on her in some ways), if she recognises his face but not his voice, they've spoken on the network. Or, more specifically speaking, EMBER.

... Oh! Right. Be gay do crime. That guy. Crime-man? No, he has an actual name. But there were a lot of names on there. And, as she proves quite effectively, they don't even need to be real ones. )

... This isn't high enough for seven floors.

( Even she can tell that much. )

EMBER OVERFLOWS

[bratherine]

no fuckoff (347) TAMAMO ☆ Brat

✓ ✕ O

@megumi

[bratherine]

thread

( ...

yeah. that was a text she definitely just read with her own two eyes. man, who would have thought a day would come where superpower-providing pills would seem so normal. )

never know
they might start doing that here

( cause why the fuck wouldn't they, honestly? )

@dosei

[bratherine]

thread

sure.
place in shuten called axercise
wanna go?

[aphonik]

[ how we did we get here from where we started. ]

ya why not
better than gettin bitched at for vandalism

[bratherine]

( violence )

cool
when you free?

( Kate, given your propensity to doing everything, you're the one whose schedule needs checking. )

@mona

[bratherine]

thread

nothing to lose here
rules could be different

[exiguous]

[ ... ]

I understand that you are curious, and while I don't think that curiosity is bad in itself, I simply cannot betray those who taught me what I know. I cannot dishonor the art of astrology.

[bratherine]

( that's a lot of seriousness for "the stars say you like long walks on the beach". )

how long you been doing it

( colour her curious, tbh. )

@megumi / mini-event / cw: all the stardust related things

[bratherine]

( The phrase no rest for the wicked has never seemed as true as it does in hell, funnily enough. Kate doesn't take a moment to rest after the lessons are over and she escapes the underground, dressed in her usual waiter getup as an ode to a morning spent at the food service station and an afternoon at the charm school. She doesn't take a moment because there's a very suspicious rabbit woman offering something all too tempting:

expenses paid. Which, for an unranked member of any faction is enough to make them pause. Even if their first run in with this woman ended in them freezing half to death due to her mochi creations.

But all she has to do is steal some Stardust? That's... doable. The drug for invisibility is pocketed, held in safe-keeping for the time being while the last vestiges of the day fade into darkness and she uses the cover of the rooftops, as ever, to make her way through the city.

(Truth be told, there's a stash of Stardust in her room that would probably cover this woman's request, but she wants to keep that for herself. You never know when something like that could come in handy.)

Ultimately, however, this is how Kate comes to be perched above a Shuten alleyway, squinting down at the (lack of) activity below. It's dodge central, but she thinks most Shuten locations are, so if anywhere is going to have something like a steady supply of Stardust, it's this place. ... Or her own territory, but Kate would rather piss off Shutens than her boss, so.

Here she is. Waiting. Watching for something that might lead her to the right entrance for the kind of people dealing in Stardust and—

Hold up. Is that a kid? She can't see him clearly enough from up here, but he's also the first person she's seen since she set up camp here, so it's worth a shot. Down she goes, hopping onto the fire escape and then the alleyway itself, appearing right behind him. )

What d'you think you're doing?

[mahoraga]

[ Though Megumi's never been one to chase after monetary pursuits, he's recently allowed his roommate to spend his money as he pleases after keeping a tight hold on their household income, and now he's slightly worried he won't be able to support them both even on his Rank 1 salary given that Yuuji was likely to splurge. Additional sources of income aren't an unwelcome thing, and Megumi likes to keep busy.

That's why when he heard about the hefty reward provided by the moon rabbit, he took it on, accepting her potion of strength. It's not entirely necessary given the strength of his familiars, but it doesn't hurt to have (and he can stash it if it goes unused).

Hearing the sound of footsteps, Megumi starts preparing to make an escape. He stops when he turns and finds himself recognizing the young woman calling out to him. Kate might notice that Megumi's shadow looks a little strange - more defined, blacker, a bit tar-like. In his hands, he has some vials that he's stolen. ]

... Kate-san. [ His memory is very good, so he recalls her name easily. He doesn't know her last name, however.

So, what does he say in response to this? Does he tell her he's been stealing? ]

Why do you want to know?

[bratherine]

( Oh.

She recognises this guy. Not from real life, but... Yeah, they talked, didn't they? Unfortunately, her memory for his name isn't quite as good as his is for hers. Me... something?

Megan? No, that can't be right. Her lips press together as the answer doesn't come to her, but... Whatever. More important things going on right now than his name. Like what he's doing. And whatever the fuck is happening with his shadow. Her eyes narrow. Jigokucho has dampened her power to a state where colours can be hard to distinguish, to where it sometimes fails to pick anything up at all. But she squints anyway, as though that will do anything in particular to help her figure out what the fuck is going on there. )

'Cause y'don't look like you should be around here.

( As opposed to the teenager still in her work clothes who barely cracks five feet and has a Tamamo pin on her lapel. )

Working?

[mahoraga]

[ Her suspicion isn't too surprising to him. He very clearly isn't from Shuten, and he's lurking around the shadows with vials in his hands. Though they've just met recently, she didn't sound like the dense sort on the Ember, and certainly doesn't look that way here. There's no way she hasn't made some kind of guess why he's here. ]

I've got no other reason to collect these vials. [ Megumi isn't the sort to indulge, especially when it involves a substance as unpredictable as Stardust. This is a drug, essentially, and growing up in a conservative country it was heavily frowned upon. There's no reason he would crave the euphoria the drug offered - he knows that happiness is a farce.

So yes, he is working. Megumi can be quite the workaholic, actually. Swiping the vials is too easy with his adaptable ability. ]

But the fact that you're here ... You must be here for the same reason.

stardust rooftops

[notched]

[ Anna is always on the rooftops. She practices her routes regularly, and it was helpful during the curse. She knows where she's going even with her eyes closed, even in the dark, even with her heart beating with frenzy. It's just the nature of who and what she is, at this point. Trapped in Yharnam as long as she was, there was little else to do but patrol the same spaces over and over again. Fight the same beasts in the same locations and formations, over and over again.

But Jigoku-cho changes. The sun rises. New people appear.

She glances at Kate. Anna's dark hair catches in the wind, looking mournful and distant, like she really always does. ]

Clever, to find your way up here.

[bratherine]

( Somehow, their paths have never crossed up here before. But Anna is a familiar face. Someone who she knows to be skilled, and therefore isn't a surprise to see up here.

And... she's being called clever again. She was drunk enough to make her thoughts on that known at karaoke, and this time bites her tongue, arms folding. )

Weren't much but practice.

( It's definitely one of the trickier rooftops to get to, but that's why she wanted to come this way. Harder paths beget more skill in the end. )

[notched]

[ She glances, an eyebrow only slightly raised. ]

Takes a good deal of practice, strength, stamina.

[ Not something most people do for no reason. ]