(open) i went through my list of friends and found i had no one to tell

[entreats]

Who: Ange Ushiromiya and YOU!
Where: All over Aldrip.
What: Ange is dealing with the aftermath of the Gnosia event-- and worse so than she's pretending to be.
Warnings: A chance of talk of mental illness (mostly depression, mixed in with some complex abandonment trauma) and death (in regards to the recent event).

[ It's not like Ange hasn't dealt with anything in this place, really. She's been here for over a year now, and there have been plenty of things before that really shook her to the core - especially that dumb maze from a long while ago now, and everything that had appeared in it. But the most recent event might have been the wildest thing yet. It was very reminiscent of the games back home, which sure didn't help. Even though her family might not have been on the line this time around, watching her friends be on the line was practically just as bad.

And now.. the town is normal again. And they're expected to go on like the usual.

So Ange tries to do just that - even if something threatens to fester below. ]

( a. come across ange - open to all! )

[ Maybe you're coming across one of the more quiet and empty parts of town, or maybe right outside town, where you may have found someone who set up a little shooting range - even if it's not much more than a single target standing there in an empty field or park.

The sight that might be more surprising - if you recognize the girl - is Ange standing there, holding a bow as she's staring at the target, looking rather focused. It's been a long, long time since she bothered to practice archery before giving up on it, so the sight of her doing it again is certainly new to most people. (And not inspired at all by a specific person being on her mind, what do you mean--) She pulls back the string before releasing the arrow. It flies at the target, and..

.. It only hits one of the outer rings.

The girl mutters something under her breath, her steps more like stomps as she heads over to the target to retrieve the arrow, pulling it out. As she turns around to go back to where she was standing a moment ago to perhaps go for a second attempt, she'll spot you right there. She frowns, speaking up with a: ]

What are you looking at?

[ Is she embarrassed? A little more touchy than the usual, considering she doesn't seem to be wearing her poker face or her usual emotionless tone when she spoke up like that? Who knows. ]

( b. ange comes across you - only for existing cr! )

[ For once, Ange doesn't totally isolate in the face of what happened during the event. It's almost as if she learned something, ssshh.

Which means that at some point during the days right after the town returns back to normal, you may find Ange reaching out to you if she knows you. She'll be at your door if she knows where you live, but if she doesn't, she may have sent you a text to come meet up with her at a cafe in town.

Either way, regardless of whether you're greeting her at your doorstep or in the cafe, the girl scowls and immediately starts with: ]

Everything that happens in this place is such bullshit.

[ Okay, hi, hello to you too, Ange-- ]

( ooc: feel free to hit me up with either brackets or prose, i will match! or if you'd like to wildcard this or ask for a custom starter, feel free to let me know too, i'm very flexible! )

Comments

[entreats]

[ Honestly, Ange was a little curious how Levi was taking this. Considering he did seem to have a similar mindset to her own when it comes to some things - like dying, for one, which is pretty important when that thing they just went through sure involved a whole lot of death - she thought that he might be relatively fine, but it was difficult to pinpoint how he might feel beyond that.

Seeing this bit of annoyance from him is a little surprising. Not very surprising, since the girl feels anyone would agree with the sentiment of this being annoying, but..

.. still, it's more emotion than she can usually read off him. ]

Was it that bad for you? [ She asks. You know. Nonchalantly. She's nosy, but also doesn't want to openly dig that hard. Even if Ange isn't the most socially gifted person, she knows that doing that is a big no-no in social circles. ]

[solitarysoul]

[He sighs.]

Just annoying, mostly. I tried to hide in my apartment but they just dumped me in town square. Since I was at home I didn't have any weapons or anything on me.

[He's since changed that behavior.]

I got killed on the way back.

[The death was a shock and painful, and returning at all was as well, but he's still mostly upset about the being forced into that situation.]

[entreats]

[ It sounds like something this place would do. Maybe it was that situation with the dumb questions - Ange got into that one herself, so she can kind of imagine what he's talking about.

The girl silently takes it in for a moment, but then she sips the drink she got before asking: ]

Do you know who killed you?

[solitarysoul]

I'm pretty sure I do. But there was something wrong with him. Probably whatever the fuck that Gnosia thing was.

[So he's not sure if he wants revenge or not, but he doesn't want to name his killer to others.]

[entreats]

I imagine it was that Gnosia infection. Because if it was someone who's fucked up enough to do that sort of thing under the cover of something like this happening, then they're seriously messed up.

[ Not that Ange would really put it past absolutely everyone in this place.

Some people just suck. ]

It seemed like there were plenty of people who were infected by that, judging by all the chaos going around. I never got to confirm whether anyone really was one or not before it was all over.

[solitarysoul]

I don't really know. I stopped going out around the second day or so, and then I died like a day or two later so I missed most of it. I bet a lot of people are having trouble getting over it, though.

[Especially those who were infected and killed.]

[entreats]

[ She sips from her drink. Ange is even annoyed enough at this place to forget the manners that were drilled into her, instead slurping on purpose. ]

Well, of course they would be. It's messed up to do this sort of thing to people. [ Though Ange herself doesn't sound upset in a sad way as much as she just sounds annoyed.

But then again - usually she doesn't even show the annoyance outwardly, so it's already a sign that she's been pushed more than the usual too. ]

What was it even good for? Was it just because it's fun to watch us kill each other against our own will?

[solitarysoul]

Killing another person isn't really easy. I'd expect a lot of the people who were made to kill won't come to terms with it for awhile. Though this place may just throw something else at us that'll distract everyone.

[He shakes his head.]

That, I think. Or they want the blood. Gods seem to like that.

[entreats]

We have to find a way to keep this from happening again.

[ Ange frowns as she says that. No matter how much she pretends to not care, something about her saying this and the way she's frowning indicates that she does care about the people here. ]

Maybe we should try asking Jerry about it when he comes around again to see what happens. Maybe we can demand an explanation for what happened from the entities that exist above him.

[solitarysoul]

That'd be nice.

[He has no idea if stopping things like the Gnosia infection or glitches or whatever was within their power or not. But he would like to keep people from dying or killing each other.]

Does he answer questions? I wouldn't expect him to, but I've barely dealt with him.

[entreats]

[ She hums a little. Ange doesn't have much personal experience with him either, but she has heard a lot of stories, considering she tends to hear people out on this subject.. It's important to her to find out as much about this place as possible, after all. ]

I don't think he's very helpful.

[ Then again, is anything in this place? Ange sure doesn't think so. ]

But I also think that sometimes you can get him to talk about stuff if you push him in the right ways. Maybe we can let him accidentally slip something important to us. I can't imagine of any other way to fight back against any of this in our current situation. [ And she doesn't just want to do nothing either. Being a sitting duck feels way terrible in the face of recent events. ]

[solitarysoul]

I'm not good with people, I'd have no idea how to get him to accidentally say something. I guess I just need to make sure I pay close attention if I see him again.

[entreats]

Honestly, I don't think Jerry really counts as a person.

[ So who knows, Levi! Maybe you'll actually be able to do this! ]

It often seems to either be a case of being lucky enough to be around at the right time to witness something weird, or you just really have to push him on the issue. [ Which means it's totally possible for him to see more, if not just through coincidence. ] Just make sure to let me know if you happen to meet him again and notice something off about him, alright?

[ Because Ange absolutely wants to know about that. Gathering information is just about the one thing she can do here. ]

[solitarysoul]

[Levi doesn't think of him as a person either, but interacting with Jerry was too much like interacting with a person for him to try and...anything.]

Yeah...If I run into him or get sentenced again I'll let you know. Especially if there's anything weird. Can you do the same for me?

[He probably won't be able to help figure it out, but he knows people who might.]

[entreats]

Sure.

[ It seems like an easy agreement for her to make, the girl not even having to think about it before she's already saying this. ]

Though I think it's pretty unlikely that I'll have to deal with Jerry first. I've been here for way over a year now, and he hasn't come to see me even once. It almost hurts a girl's feelings, you know? [ That's a joke, since Ange obviously doesn't want to see Jerry since that usually doesn't mean anything good..

But she's saying it with such a straight face that it's easy to mistake it for her being serious as well. ]

[solitarysoul]

Really? I was only here a few months when he got me. I wonder if there's a logic for who they take in or if its just random.

[entreats]

[ Without hesitation: ]

What, you don't think it's just because I'm an incredibly innocent girl who'd never do anything wrong?

[ She's saying it with such a straight face too.. ]

[solitarysoul]

[Levi blinks.]

U-uh...

[Was that a joke, or was she being serious? Girl that never did wrong didn't really fit her personality but he knows fuck all about dealing with people.]

I, uh...yes?

[Yes would probably offend her less if she was being serious.]

[entreats]

[ Poor Levi, thrust into social interactions he's not capable of handling..

Though she - thankfully for him - seems satisfied enough by his answer. ]

Thanks. [ It's still so flat that it's hard to tell if she means that or not.. ] Good to know that you have such a high opinion of me.

[solitarysoul]

U-uh...you're, um, welcome?

[??????????]

[entreats]

[ ...

He's a little hopeless, isn't he. ]

Come on, surely you at least know when people are messing around with you, don't you?

[solitarysoul]

[Very much so.]

I, uh, I-I'm not good with people.

[entreats]

[ Ange could be mean and say it's pretty noticable.

She's not picking the mean (or, in her case, blunt) option this time though. ]

You don't have to be that good with people to be able to tell, actually. [ She shrugs a little, and then at least does admit to him: ] I'm not good with people either.

But I figured that learning how to know when people are messing with you is a pretty important skill to have anyway, or else they're going to walk all over you.

[solitarysoul]

I-I guess... its usually okay, thought.

[He didn't mind being pushed around or walked over most of the time, since it was the path of least resistance to get him out of interaction quicker.]

[entreats]

... you think being walked over is okay?

[ Levi, are you just saying that exactly because you're a pushover? Ange seems so skeptical of this claim. ]