(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]

[ It probably says something about how often Ange has been around guns that she doesn't seem all that alarmed at Jinx pulling hers out. Even before it's emptied a moment later.

And when the advice follows, she looks back at the target again instead. Ange moves to pick up another arrow from the very small pile of them lying next to her feet and loads it onto the bows again, letting out a sigh.

Maybe there's some stuff to be addressed with Jinx, but if the other is starting like this, then-- ]

It's cheating when you use a gun, you know. [ Yet she does seem to listen to the advice.

At least enough that it seems like Ange is trying to angle her bow a little higher this time. ]

Those are way easier to handle.

[opheliac]

Depends on how good of a shot you are.

[ she says, matter-of-factly, not moving a single inch out of her stiff position. even her pinks are secure tight at the target the two are centering on. ]

If guns were so easy, everyone would have them on their hips. But a lot of heads will be rolling around here, a lot of blood 'cause of the slip of a trigger. — It takes a special kind of someone to handle a gun, they're picky about who they want to partner with.

[ she side-glances at the redhead, then finally lowers the weapon down to her side, bubbling a tiny chuckle from the back of her throat. ]

You ever fired that thing at a person, ooooor you just use it for hunting animals?

[entreats]

Considering what happened only a little while ago, I'll need to fire it at people. [ She says - not quite as dryly as usually. There's something more serious in it.

Not the kind of serious that makes it sound like the thought bothers her. More the kind of serious that shows she means what she's saying, and she fully intents on going through with it. With how that all went down, she never wants to come across as that helpless again. Ange has seen how that ends.

.. though she isn't really sure why Jinx approached her. Or why she's even saying all of this. Is this her way of trying to make up for what happened in the club, by giving Ange some advice on this topic?

Ange really doesn't know. If that incident in the club proved anything to her, it's that she can't seem to wrap her mind around Jinx's way of thinking.

She fires the arrow in her bow.

It hits a little closer to the target this time. ]

[opheliac]

Oooooo, — dangerous ♪. I guess you do have fangs underneath all that up-tight energy.

[ she bends her head to one side as she watches the redhead hurtle another arrow through the air; then whistles softly at the proximity between the dart and the center. ]

Not bad. Keep it up and you'll definitely shoot someone's eye out. [ jinx shifts her focus back on the girl beside her, flickering a grin that teeters between joking around and being critical. ] — Personally, I always go for the left one.

[entreats]

[ Ange is quiet for a moment. Not in the sense that she's ignoring Jinx, because her gaze is definitely turned in the other girl's direction - but she just doesn't say anything. Not right away. She only lowers the bow so it's hanging at her side instead. Ange clearly is not intending on using it on Jinx.

Instead she stares, seems to think for a moment, and then finally speaks up. ]

So..

[ .. An awkward silence. It's not like Ange is good at this. Far from it. Social situations like these are a total nightmare to her, but somehow ignoring the elephant in the room altogether feels even worse to her than awkwardly addressing it. ]

What, are you not mad at me anymore or something? [ It's not like their last encounter was particularly great, after all. Even with that very eventful last week Ange hasn't forgotten it at all. ]

[opheliac]

I'm mad at everyone.

[ she corrects the other with a grin still intact and not letting it flatine even an inch. she throws her arms in the air for a long stretch before folding them to relax behind her head. ]

It's all about the rating and levels. Maaaaybe you're a two point five outta ten from the pissed meter. Or you could be more. It's a reeeeaaallly mystery!

[entreats]

[ Maybe she shouldn't be surprised at the answer.

After all, isn't this the exact thing she told the other girl the last time? She really can't understand Jinx. Nothing about her makes sense to Ange - a girl who tries to rely so heavily on logic and reasoning, making Jinx's emotions jumping all over the place a total puzzle. Being so mad at her one moment, then being this casual again the next.. How is she supposed to interpret that? Ange's brain sure is making an effort in this moment, but it's not getting very far.

So her initial response is just a slightly flat: ]

Great.

[ Not like this information really helps her, after all. ]

Then why hang around someone you're even just kind of annoyed at? Usually people would go out of their way to avoid having to deal with people they feel that way about.

[opheliac]

If you want me to kill you so bad, just say the word, Grets.

[ she says so casually as she drops her arms back down to her sides, her head cocking to one side with a wide smile prancing over her face. ]

Because that's what I normally do when people annoy me or... make me feel the kind of funny that I don't like. I hurt them, or kill them.

[ humming, jinx pivots on her heel and advances her way towards the target, taking a braid to swirl around like it's her personal cane. all the while, speaking louder now, since she is creating a bigger distance between them. ]

But! — That's a little pointless when everyone can just come back from the dead! And I DO walk away when I'm bugged enough, but this place is oooonnlly so big. We'd run into each other eventually, even when I don't want us to...!

[ she halts halfway between the target and where ange stands, turning to face the other again, but now grabbing a hold of her other braid too to also twirl around. helicopter braids!! ]

So what's a girl to do, huh?!

[entreats]

You could just not talk to me, even when we run into each other.

[ It's not necessarily Ange saying that's what Jinx should do. It's just a dry suggestion in response to what the other girl is saying. Because-- sure, it is very hard to avoid people you don't like in this place, but it's not like it's impossible. There are people here Ange definitely goes out of her way to never interact with for that very reason.

But surely even Jinx knows that. She's not stupid. And Ange also feels like Jinx would have killed her if she was angry enough at her, regardless of whether she'd come back or not.

So what is going on here? It's all so weird. ]

Do you want my attention that badly? [ She lowers the bow to her side. ] Is that it?

[opheliac]

No.

[ she says plainly, while dropping both of her braids to let them plummet and swing on their own. her tongue rolls behind her lips as she contemplates with herself on whether she should answer the question or not. because it's a question, well, a similar question she had answered before, and that response hadn't changed from the last time she said it. but maybe ange needs another reminder. ]

I've told you. — I want you to be one of my mine. But you just make it soooo tricky. Don't see what the big deal is! It's not like you're the only one in my group.

[entreats]

[ Usually Ange would make a joke about playing hard to get.

.. but that would be if the situation was any less serious. And given the way Jinx reacted last time around, Ange does feel like this is at least somewhat serious. At least enough so for her to not go for the joke.

So rather than being at the ready with a quick reply like always, there's a slight pause on Ange's end, like she is thinking of what to say here. ]

Have you thought about why I reacted the way I did before? Do you even have a guess?

[opheliac]

Because you're weird.

[ again, being straight forward as she throws her arms over her head to pull any tight muscles from her back. ]

Aaaaaand I'm guessing when I say "mine", you're taking it as a sexual way when it's SOOO not that.

[ jinx casually trots closer once more as she swings her arms in an overly dramatic sense just to be...well, silly. ]

When I say, "mine", it's like you're my friend, my people, my important person! Now, if you "belong to me", that's completely different. That's a step-up.

[entreats]

I wasn't thinking that, actually.

[ Her tone is relatively calm enough that it seems like Ange is at least not really taking offense at being called weird.

.. it's mostly true, anyway.

But she does figure she has to spell this out a little bit more for Jinx, or else the other is never going to know. It seems like their ways of thinking are just way too far apart for Jinx to be able to guess the true reason. ]

It's just that I've learned that people never approach you in that sort of way unless they want something from you. Unless they want to use you and then throw you away later.