expiationlogs | ( closed ) and all around the world was waking

[ Having housemates has been an experience for Ange. Really, it just being Scott was fairly doable. Yes, Scott is a lot more social than she is - the lowest bar in the world to clear - but having a single person around, and especially someone she trusts as much as Scott, is something Ange can put up with.

But then it's not just Scott anymore. And while Ange accepts Scott moving people in, considering she's only here because he invited her to move in as well, it doesn't mean it's exactly an easy process to Ange. She isn't used to sharing living spaces with other people in this sort of way.

Like, for example, when you want to go shower in the morning only to find the drain absolutely clogged. Sheesh, it's a good thing she hasn't changed out of her clothes yet. Even if it means there's a girl coming out of the bathroom in her pyjamas, raising her voice to yell: ]

Who left hair all over the bathroom?!

[ Granted, the colour of the hair makes it kind of obvious.

But maybe she would like the culprit to report themselves anyway. ]

[As for Kurt, he's used to this. He and the other X-Men have lived in rooms along the same hallway. He's roomed with Scott and shared bathrooms with multiple mutants. So it's less of a bigee for him - although he's so used to it, he doesn't think of how the experience might be for someone who isn't already used to living with multiple mutants... Especially when he can sometimes be careless about the extra fuzz that comes off in the shower...

Kurt had just dressed up after his shower and was just securing some toast, but he nearly drops it when the shouting Pajama Ange (Pajange?) storms in.

He looks at her, like a deer in the headlights. Come on, Kurt. The right thing to say should be obvious-]

Um... Are you sure it's not yours? [He offers with a meek shrug.]

Kurt.

[ She's saying it with a devastating tone. Even though Ange is clearly also just a teenager, she's saying that name with the tone of a mother who is using someone's full name, middle name included.. ]

I want you to take a look in the bathroom. [ At the fuzz that's present there. Because it's definitely not red! She can tell you that! ] And tell me what it looks like to you.

[ Go ahead, Kurt! She's waiting! Arms crossed and all! ]

[He feels a wave of dread wash over him. In that moment, he knew... he fucked up.]

...Yes ma'am. [He answers meekly, his head bowed. He then teleports right back over to the bathroom and looks over what he can find.]

That's strange! It... it kinda looks all blue! [He answers meekly, as if he isn't openly a blue fuzzy mutant within this house.]

[ She's entirely quiet while he's teleporting over. Ange doesn't even speak up first while he takes a moment to examine the state of the bathroom. It's like she wants him to speak of his sins before she even does as much as open her mouth.. ]

That's right. It's blue.

[ Real suspicious, huh, Kurt.

Ange joins him in the bathroom, leaning sideways against the door frame and raising a questioning eyebrow in his direction. ]

How would something blue end up in here, hm? [ Such an ominous.. atmosphere.... ]

[He pinches some of the blue fuzz in his fingers, and he looks back towards her with a very meek expression, one that's accompanied by fear in his eyes.]

W-well, you see, uh... it might've been me! [He rubs at his head sheepishly.]

You know, sometimes a little extra fur gets loose, and I, uh... don't always catch it! ...My bad, probably!

[ Finally.

He's admitting to his crime. ]

I'm glad you finally realise what the source of the trouble here is. [ If she's really glad, then why does she sound so scary about it..!! ]

So what are we going to do to prevent this problem from happening again?

[ Ah, there it is.

The most important question.

Kurt, pick your words wisely..! Y-You can do it! ]

[Kurt feels a fear unlike any other while he feels her staring at him like that. He shrinks back while twiddling his fingers together uncertainly.]

W-well I can't exactly shave myself! [He says with a weak, awkward laugh.]

I could, up, look out for loose fuzz from now on! And... give a heads up...

Yeah. That sounds like a good solution to me.

[ At least she seems to approve of what he's saying here, even if it's still kind of in that weird, icy way.. ]

After all, you have two eyes, right? Regardless of what form you're in. You can use those to see if you're making a mess, and then clean it up when you're done. [ Ange says it very slowly. Like she's explaining it to a class of kindergarteners. ]

Then the rest of us will be able to shower without the thing flooding because the drain is clogged.

R-right! Cleaning it up! I can do that too! For sure!

[As if he hadn't really thought about the concept of actually cleaning it until that moment-

He bows his head in defeat.]

Yes ma'am!! I'll make sure from now on that the only fuzz you see is on me. How's that sound?

[ There's a slight nod. ]

I can live with that.

[ Which means Kurt will get to live another day.. For now...

Just as long as Ange can still shower in peace without any fur-interruptions! Furterruptions!! ]

Is this seriously the first time anyone has told you this? [ Maybe Scott is too nice.

.. or not hygienic enough. He is a guy.. ]

[He rubs at his head uncertainly.]

W-well it has come up every now and then back home! It's just... never been this scary before!

[He admits, before leaning down to get all the fur out.]

... You think I'm scary?

[ What a dangerous question..

Especially when Ange's attitude makes it so hard to tell which answer she'd like to hear to that question. Godspeed, Kurt. She's staring at you, one eyebrow raised, clearly waiting here for some answer. ]

[FEAR. He stumbles back, nearly slipping in the tub.]

Y-yes! No! Maybe so!

[He looks around uncertainly and shrugs.]

...Can I call a lifeline?

[ There's no lifelines here, Kurt! Scott can't hear you scream-- ]

I don't think you need one. I got my answer.

[ Even if he gave all possible answers at once. But it's not his words that tell her it, as much as-- ]

You seem scared enough that I imagine you think I'm scary. But that's a good thing. I'm tired of people here walking all over me. [ Like their OTHER SOCIAL HOUSEMATES!!

She will never forgive them for forcing to attend parties. Time to make sure Kurt will never think about trying that awful sort of thing with her! ]

[Scott! SCOOOTTTT!!!

He bows his head in defeat as she gives her verdict. But then he smiles and waves off the rest of what she has to say.]

Walking all over you? I can't even imagine that! Don't worry, you won't get the doormat treatment from me. I prefer walking with people! [But dragging her to parties is a completely different thing, it doesn't count-]

[ That counts so much!!

In fact, Ange is kind of suspicious of just that. Not that she can read his thoughts or anything, it's just that every single weirdly social person in this place seems to come with some sort of preference for parties and getting as many people as possible to go to them..

So-- ]

And what exactly is your idea of walking with someone?

[ At least she doesn't sound as menacing anymore as she says it, considering he did comply and is cleaning up his mess and all.

But she still definitely sounds skeptical. ]

[She is the wrong redhead to be capable of reading thoughts, for sure! But Kurt has been wondering about the party scene here...

At least it sounds less like an interrogation now. Kurt responds with a little laugh.]

Exactly what it sounds like! I'm not going to force anyone to do something. I like to make sure we're all down for something! And I can be very persuasive, too. Especially if it involves some kind of rad partying! [He says with a grin and a shake of his sides.]

Edited 2024-07-24 01:32 (UTC)

[ He had her in the first half, not going to lie.

But of course it continues into persuasion, when Ange over here was perfectly fine with the part about no one being forced to do anything. So.. ]

And what if I'm not down for something, and I don't want to have any persuading happening?

[ What then, Kurt!!

Yes, you're very sociable and charming and all, but of course that's totally lost on Ange of all people. With indifference towards your blue furriness comes indifference towards your charm too, apparently.. ]

It'll be fine! [He waves a hand casually as he waves off her concern.]

If something really fun is going down, I'm sure I can talk you into wanting to be persuaded. Don't worry about it! And hey, I can try using my teleportation to give you a free sample of wherever we're going!

[He says that with the most confident grin, while sticking his tail down the drain to collect more fuzz.]

H-Hey, you can't say you'll talk me into it and then say don't worry right after!

[ It doesn't sound like the intimidating talk from earlier. Hell - Ange would probably like for it to sound like that, but it doesn't even manage to get close. There's nothing angry or scary about it.

Instead Ange sounds kind of flustered and annoyed at the same time, in a way that's much closer to a kid throwing a tantrum than the annoyance from a moment ago. Maybe it's because the sheer idea of being talked into going into a social situation kills her on the inside. ]

Do you even realize what you're doing?!

[ DO YOU, KURT??

Because she doesn't think you do! ]

[The intimidation level might be going down a little bit... Kurt's surprised and amused seeing this side of Ange. It's kind of adorable! He smirks while continuing his cleaning.]

Of course I do! [He grins and shrugs.] I'm cleaning up after myself, just like I promised!

[Though he's sure that's not what she means.]

And it really won't be anything to worry about! Because at the end of the day, you'll have a fun time, and that's what matters!

[ Definitely not what she meant. Thankfully he does correct that matter by going on about what she did mean, but.. the words he's saying don't exactly make her look a while lot calmer.. ]

I won't have a fun time! [ She bristles.

Though still more in the flustered way than in any way that's actually scary. ]

How do you even know if I would, huh? Who would you be to decide that for me?

[ Ange, girl, you're getting maybe a little bit too defensive.. ]

I'd be... a really cool and fun friend...? [He retorts meekly, with a shrug of his shoulders.]

But hey, you won't know if you'll have fun until you try. And we're all talking hypothetical right now. There could be a situation where it's obvious you just need a little nudging to cut loose and have fun, yeah? I'm not going to force it if it feels like you'll be miserable. The fuzzy man doesn't operate like that!

[ With a definite determination: ]

There will never be a situation where I need to cut loose.

[ Never, Kurt. Not even once! If Ange smiles, she'll die, don't you know? That's clearly how it works, since there's no other reason why the girl would sound this determined about something so relatively silly.. ]

Besides, I'm sure you'll have plenty of parties to go to with Scott and Shiomi-san. Those two like parties way too much.

Everyone has to cut loose sometime! You look like someone who's just waiting for the right opportunity to tear up a dance floor!

[Kurt looks quite assured of his conclusions.]

And hey, it's not about me having company. It's about you! If the whole rest of the house is partying, you'll just feel left out and lonely. We gotta get you in on some fun. Then they'll call us the party house!

Kurt, if anyone at all calls this the party house, I'm going to set the house on fire.

[ A-ANGE...??

Maybe a little extreme there, girl. And yet she says it so quickly after that last part of what he said, like she didn't even have to think about it.. Is this just instinctive for her?! Who knows! Maybe she's just paying him back for how confident he seems about her apparently being some sort of hidden party animal. ]

[Okay, now he's starting to feel the scariness again... Kurt looks back at her nervously and tries to laugh it off.]

...With your dance moves...? [He doesn't sound too confident though!]

With fire!

[ Never mind that Ange doesn't have fire magic.

But there's matches. She can improvise, clearly.

.. or maybe this just was never a serious threat in the first place. Just Ange being huffy as she always is, throwing up her arms at the word 'fire' like she's casting a spell..

Though, thankfully, nothing happens. ]

Look, I'm just saying-- Don't mess with me! [ Yes, because the toddler tantrum sure is making you look intimidating, Ange. ]

[He does raise his arms for a moment, as if to shield himself! But then he lowers them, a little embarrassed, once it's clear she's not actually casting a fire spell. Hey, he doesn't know what Ange's capable of, and he's dealt with people back home who can actually throw around fire and exploding balls! Once the lack of threat is clear, he tries to hold back chuckles instead. Because it's more adorable and funny than anything when she's huffy like this.]

Duly noted! No messing in the works over here, no siree!

[He raises his hands in surrender as he says that!

But at the same time, it's like gears are working in his mind, as if he's trying to calculate the precise amount of messing around to get the funny, huffy version of Angy Ange rather than the actually intimidating version...]

[ There's definitely something a little weird about the idea of voluntarily meeting up with someone. Ange isn't the most social of people, after all, and most of the time when she does meet up with people it's either because one of her more sociable friends forced her into it, or because she wants to discuss the mystery of this place.

This case is really neither, though it leans more towards the latter in the sense that Ange is pretty interested in what Ryoji could possibly be. She can sense something from him, but it's unlike anything else she's ever felt, both here and back home.

Though Ange knows she has to make certain preparations for her kind of magic. Or-- well, to mirror the sort of magic she's seen back home, since she's pretty sure that figuring out what's up with Ryoji will probably require a little bit more than just her usual style of magic. So rather than inviting Ryoji over to her place, she's instead invited him to.. a rooftop. At night. That by itself might be ominous enough, but when Ryoji arrives there, he'll definitely see that the girl is drawing something on the roof that kind of looks like one of those demonic circles you might see in horror movies.

And yet when Ange looks up from where she's squatting next to it, her hand covered with red paint, she sounds just as emotionless and nonchalant as ever as she says: ]

Oh, hey.

[ Just a normal day in Aldrip, Ryoji.. ]

[When it comes to socialization and hanging out, the first things that come to Ryoji’s mind are of the typical fare teenagers do — stuff like going to shops or parks, maybe even spending some time at the karaoke or the arcade. Even here his day to day routine hasn’t changed much, outside of substituting school with part-time jobs.

What Ange invited him for is something of a different ilk, although it’s something that he approaches with curiosity rather than trepidation. It’s easy to swallow the existence of magic when you witness it right in front of your eyes — especially when you see your friend’s dog summon a magical creature, of all things! And yet it is just like any other skill, something that can be used for good or for ill in equal measure. In Ange’s hands, Ryoji knows he would be in safe hands.]

Hey there, Ange-san!

[There he is, as chipper as ever, his pale being stepping into the moonlight. What he sees on the ground would fit well in any horror movie scene, and his mouth hangs agape in silent admiration.]

So what do these symbols mean? There’s a teacher back in school who talked a lot about occultism, but he never showed us any diagrams.

A teacher? Was it his hobby or something?

[ Well, at least both are taking this in with relative calm - which totally works for Ange. Ryoji's admiration doesn't seem to bother her all that much, especially when it's so silent. He seems surprisingly tolerable for someone she has deemed to be part of the group of Social People. (The dreaded Social People.)

Now she's made sure that it really was him entering the rooftop, Ange returns to her drawing, starting to work on the last spots at the edges. ]

This is the Seventh Magic Circle of the Sun. My cousin taught me about that one. [ She slows down a little, like she really has to focus on what she's writing. ] The names written on it are-- It's kind of difficult to remember the details.

[ Ange stops, looking up from her writing and over to an old-looking books that's lying next to her on the rooftop, opened to a certain page. ]

It's the names of the angels that are connected to the four elements, apparently. I mostly drew this one because it's meant to release one's bonds, or so I've been told. It could just be nothing though.

Yeah, but he only teaches every now and then. I think he’s also the school nurse? But that doesn’t have anything to do with magic either, does it?

[He leans closer to the drawing to absorb the details, taking great care not to let his scarf dangle to close to it. He could read the names well enough - perhaps a side effect of how everyone can understand one another regardless of language in this place - but they aren’t that familiar to him. This is truly out of his comfort zone.

…At least, until Ange mentions something he does know of. Angels are a concept universal enough for him to recognize, although Ryoji wasn’t aware of them being associated with elements.]

Speaking of, he talked about magicians trying to summon angels before. Is that close to what you’re trying to do?

[There’s something familiar about this kind of conversation, even though Ryoji knows nothing about magic. The casual air of it all, the books laid down on the floor…If he would ignore the buildings at the background, he could easily fool himself into thinking that this is an afterschool club activity back home.]

[ She hums a little bit. ]

Not really angels, but something like that. I summon demons.

[ The perfect thing to say in Ange's rather nonchalant flat tone, huh. It definitely is just a regular after school club activity, Ryoji! Or Ange seems to treat it that way, anyway. She doesn't even seem all that concerned when he gets closer to the circle while she's still working on it, just letting him look as much as he wants. ]

I'm technically supposed to be able to pull off other sorts of magic though, so I might as well try to see if I can. [ What's the worst thing that could happen?

(Don't answer that question.) ]

[Someone more devout might be incensed over this conversation, but Ryoji merely nods like a magician’s apprentice. As someone who doesn’t follow a religion, there is little difference between angels and demons in his eyes. Besides, weren’t some demons formerly angels? That would make sense why their names are still there.

He’s trying his best to remember the inscription, but the more Ange puts details onto it the more he’s amazed at the process…but that does make it hard to memorize. Ryoji tentatively pulls out his tablet.]

Do you mind if I take a photo?

[It’s all academic curiosity, of course, but he would understand if Ange wants to keep her privacy.]

.. sure.

[ There's that slight pause, but it doesn't seem to be apprehension, especially with how relatively casual that 'sure' sounds. Like she really doesn't mind.

No, rather than apprehension, it's more that she's just a little bit surprised. It's hard to tell with the poker face that Ange often puts on, but it's there in her eyes a little bit when she turns her head to actually look at him. ]

Why do you want to?

[ Apparently it's not a question she's ever had before. ]

( closed ) and all around the world was waking

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