( OPEN 💀 case of the glitching city )

[incorrigibles]

Who: charles rowland + you
Where: in vague places around aldrip
What: glitches for you, and you, and also you —
Warnings: mentions of death and dying, mr. rowland's a+ parenting (abuse, racism, homophobia)

STARTERS IN COMMENTS.

❯ OPEN — the ghost-to-human au nobody asked for
❯ OPEN — the wet kitten option, with a dash of hypothermia
❯ CLOSED TO EXISTING CR — what do you mean his horrible death wasn't the worst of it?

❯ want something else? feel free to wildcard it or hmu @ celen
❯ your soundtrack for this: ♫ ♫

Comments

OPEN ❯ feeling human

[incorrigibles]

[ it's not exactly an uncommon sight, seeing charles out and about at all times of the day. with no need for sleep, he's often walking around the city at night, and this early morning finds him in a park, wandering off the meant path and through the bushes — or, well, that's what he means to do, anyway. except then he's tripping over the bushes, his surprised swear echoing in the morning quiet and startling some birds from a nearby tree. ]

Bloody hell, [ he swears once he gets his bearings back, confused beyond measure because he should have phased through the bushes. he takes another step, then two. considers: he can... actually feel the air on his face, can't he? can feel the way his muscles are aching from the long walk like they shouldn't be able to, and — ]

Bloody hell, [ he repeats, with increasing wonder, and turns — only to walk straight into a tree.

uh. he's doing so well, don't even start. ]

[murderingjustice]

[And so another evil adversary had been defeated and Aldrip returned back to normal so that everyone could continue their merry lives forward... Not.

Despite everything seemingly returning back to normal after the Gnosia fiasco, Akechi could tell that nothing was quite the same. The atmosphere was off and people did seem to be more aloof and withdrawn that usually. Even those who'd normally bounce back from hardships did seem to have hard time to swallow this one... And then there were the 'incidents' happening around them as the very fabric of reality seemed fall apart around them. Something, that still somehow manages to ping Akechi's interest, despite his own foul mood and newly awakened nihilism. Look, being here for a year and half and not getting results for your hard work will do that to any detective. To a real and fake one.

Oh well, at least it seems like someone is having worse day than he is? That's always a small consolation. Akechi is just walking through the park with a coffee filled thermos in his hand and attache case in another when he sees a young man he does not recognize (because you bet that Akechi keeps an eye on all the new comers here) stumbling around. First tripping on a bush and then... ow, slamming his face against a tree trunk.

Yikes. That must be awkward.]


...Are you alright? [Should.. Should he call for someone??]

[incorrigibles]

Just aces, [ comes the answer, through a grimace, and more than a little sarcastic, mostly to hide the embarrassment that floods through him, because — god, isn't it enough that he's apparently alive again, temporarily, but that someone has to be here witnessing just how badly he's doing at it?

great. he sighs, wipes his hand across his face, and is promptly weirded out by the fact that the sigh leaves his lungs empty and he actually needs to breathe in to fill them again. ]

No, really, just... uh, it's a long story.

[ he pauses. blinks, and then his eyes focus on what akechi is carrying, and, ] Holy shit, I can actually smell the coffee.

[murderingjustice]

[Uhhuh, sure thing, buddy. You really don't look all that convincing after faceplanting a tree.

Akechi raises a curious brow once Charles gathers himself, eyeing the other from head to toe. There's something strange in the way the fellow youth carries himself. At first he simply wonders whether he is intoxicated or something similar, but shakes off the thought. No, it's not that.]

I would hope so. [He hums, taking a gulp of the thermos] It means it's still fresh.

[incorrigibles]

Yeah, well — [ charles shrugs, pressing his palm against the tree and feeling the roughness of the bark beneath his fingers, actually feeling it, and god it's strange, feeling things and smelling things when you've gone so long without both. ]

Let's just say there's a lot of stuff you take for granted before you can't do it anymore.

[laserguy]

[.........

There's an upward twitch at the corner of Scott's mouth as Charles walks straight into that tree. He was going to stop him, really, well he mostly just thought that the other teen wouldn't just collide with something that is so obviously there. If he was fully feeling himself, he wouldn't hold back his laughter at all, but after everything with the gnosia stuff, Scott's been feeling a little fragmented. Things are slowly getting better now that Kotone is alive again, but it's still been a process.

Funny how he can really relate to that other version of himself now. The one that lost Jean. He's just lucky that she came back, even if it was also a reminder that they're going to separate at some point.

...

Watching Charles like this at least is going to be one of his highlights of the week. Sorry man.]

Don't worry, I would've missed that tree too.

[Yeah, he's definitely teasing, but there's the smallest of smiles on Scott along with a subtle exhaustion weighing on his shoulders. Really, the only reason why he's out here and not back home with his girlfriend is because she's out doing things too. They can't just... keep to themselves forever, right? Even if some part of that feels tempting. He's trying.]

[incorrigibles]

Ha ha, [ says charles, rolling his eyes (while, you know, clenching his hand to stop himself from rubbing his poor forehead), though — well, even with the newly-gotten bruise on his face, he's pretty sure scott still looks worse than he does.

there's an exhaustion clinging to him that makes charles' chest ache in sympathy, and that's partly why he lets out a laugh, reflecting his own sheepish amusement back at scott. ]

Right, well, I didn't exactly miss it, did I? Just — expected to phase through and didn't.

[laserguy]

[Wait wait, hold on. Is Charles implying what he think he's implying...? It drives enough of Scott's curiosity where some of that exhaustion, some of that deep seated weariness, lifts from his person. The mutant tilts his head, one hand drawing from his pocket so he's not fully slumped over anymore.]

You don't have your ghost abilities anymore?

[...Summers, are you an idiot???]

I mean, you're not a ghost anymore? [Which also feels like a stupid question, but Charles looks pretty much the same as he did before. It's not like he's normally translucent or anything like that. Nothing that screams out 'hey I'm actually dead' to everyone around him.]

[incorrigibles]

Ghost abilities, [ charles repeats, amusement rolling off of him in waves, but also, ] Makes me sound less like a dead person and more like a supernatural thing, that.

[ which, right, he's both, but never mind that right now. ]

Seems like that, though.

[ just to test it, he lifts his hand and places it against the tree trunk, and pushes — and says, ] Yep, not going through it, am I?

[solitarysoul]

[Late night/early morning wanderings weren't uncommon for Levi. Seeing someone walk right into a tree like that was, though. He raises an eyebrow and heads over.]

Um. Y-you need a little help?

[Maybe this guy's drunk?]

[incorrigibles]

[ rubbing his head and with a slightly petulant look, charles spins around to face the source of the voice, and really, a drunk person couldn't manage half that graceful a spin! ]

Nah, I'm aces. Thanks, though.

[ the smile he flashes levi bears no trace of the awkwardness from literally two seconds prior. ]

[solitarysoul]

Uh...

[If 'aces' was a good thing Levi's not so sure about that.]

...you sure? You did just run into a tree.

OPEN ❯ a little lake water never hurt nobody

[incorrigibles]

[ it's in the middle of a clothing store that his appearance just suddenly shifts. really, he doesn't even need clothes for himself, the ones he's got are more than fine... but he's there for a purpose, and between one second and the next, his usual red polo + burgundy flannel + black overcoat combination is replaced with just a white tank, his hair starting to drip with water, his skin taking on a decidedly blueish hue.

he also goes from not feeling much of anything to shivering uncontrollably like he might just freeze to death right there in the middle of a mid-tier clothes store.

(ha. like that isn't what this is, already — the original ghost form, the one you revert to right before tipping right over into a poltergeist or a vengeful ghost, the way you looked when dying.)

it takes all of his strength to not just collapse right then and there, into a shivering heap on the floor. instead, he stumbles over to whoever is closest to him and asks, voice trembling the same as his body does, ] Hey, sorry to be a bother, but, uh, could you bring that mirror to me?

[ that mirror, as it turns out, is a smallish mirror a few shelves of shoes to the side, there on the floor. ]

[opheliac]

[ jinx, too, is in the clothing store, but she isn't going shopping for herself, per se. with the town going haywire and weather conditions being extremely abnormal, she figures some chosen out there might be in their homes without the proper attire. and it's been difficult to find sweaters, coats, and the like when, technically, it's out of the season.

the teenager is going undercover for this particular errand. when she made the network post about how they should take back this city and make them theirs, she received a lot of negative feedback. it's... to be expected, she supposes, but what is a leader without followers? many voiced their concerns of her possibly being a "mad queen" in disguise, while jinx appreciates wreaking havoc and destruction, that is not her goal here. not this time, anyway.

if they are all destined to be stuck here forever, then she should care more for her future people's well-being. her father is building this empire just for her, after all, and she should start behaving like the king she is meant to be. so when charles approaches her, jinx cocks her head to one side (like a crow), then follows his gaze to the mirror he's referring to. wordlessly, the masked individual complies and fetches for the said looking glass that rests peacefully on the floor. in seconds, she retrieves it and offers it to him, but not without speaking through a voice changer that alternates her pitch. ]

We need to find you a blanket.

[incorrigibles]

[ in his defense, charles is — well, he's pretty used to weird people, what with being in the ghost business and all that, so the mask doesn't alarm him at all. he just gives her a thankful smile, before taking the mirror and pressing his hand against it; its surface ripples slightly, and then... nothing. (it is notable, perhaps, that none of his reflection shows up on it, at all.)

grimacing through his shivers, charles tries again, with similar results.

and then declares, with chattering teeth, ] Bollocks.

[ he sighs, and nods. ] Yeah, looks like that. I mean — I'm not freezing to death here, [ a pause, ] I mean, I am, but — bloody hell, I'm not making much sense, am I?

[ since his mirror travel seems to be busted for the moment, just... huddling somewhere in the store corner until he reverts back to normal sounds like the thing to do, then. ]

[opheliac]

[ the girl cocks her head to the other side now, watching the other closely in amusement with her eyes squint behind the peek holes of her mask. hm, interesting. but then she shakes her head as the edges of her lips curl upward. ]

I like it when things don't make perfect sense. It makes things fun.

[ to an extent, of course. if things get too out of control for her, that's when she needs to have her guns solve the issue for her. the masked figure cranes her neck around him to seek for something on the racks they can use as a cover, or at least a substitute of one. ]

I think there's one over there.

[drugsnotclubs]

That's what you're worried about right now?

[Shinjiro's incredulous comment isn't exactly helpful either, granted. But the guy he'd been ignoring while he looks for any thicker fabrics or warmer clothes in the summer in futility has decidedly changed in the past half few seconds. Which isn't exactly uncommon in Aldrip right now, sure, but it's still a bit of a start to see that he's sopping water all over the floor and looking like he's going to freeze despite the warm weather.]

You don't need that to know you look like shit right now.

[Despite his words, Shinjiro does reach over for that mirror and hand it towards the drenched half-corpse of a man.]

You gonna be ok? [Maybe the shopkeep will give this guy a discount for needing new, dry clothes and quick.]

[incorrigibles]

What, my pretty looks not doing it for you? [ charles quips, and maybe the joke would land a bit better if he wasn't, you know, shivering uncontrollably. he takes the mirror, though, with a grateful nod as he presses his hand against it.... a decidedly anticlimactic thing, as nothing happens. his reflection doesn't show up, either, but that at least is normal. his mirror travel not working is decidedly less so.

cursing under his breath, he lifts his gaze to shinjiro and says, sounding a bit defeated, ] Thanks, mate, but I'll be fine. It's, uh, I'm sort of dying, except not? Like a memory of dying?

[ he waves his hand like that somehow makes things clearer, except he forgets there's a mirror he's holding and very nearly sends it flying across the store. oops. and yeah, he sure just referred to him being pseudo-dying as being fine. don't worry about it. ]

[drugsnotclubs]

[Listen, people do all sorts of weird shit in Aldrip that he doesn't understand. Pressing a hand to a mirror like he's swearing on a bible is bizarre, but not the weirdest. The lack of reflection is strange, but it sort of reminds him of where he's seen the guys face before.

Right. The guy talking about not being physical and about the marsupial on that shitty dating app. That at least explains the lack of reflection.]

....Yeah? Looks miserable. Any way to stop it, or do you just gotta ride i--

[Jesus be caREFUL WITH THAT MIRROR? His takes a step back at the hand waving and the piece of glass being flailed about with his gesture, but only pauses for a moment. At least Shinjiro's one of those guys that's incredibly hard to weird out.]

Damn, careful with that thing. You're that ghost dude, right? This normal?

CLOSED TO EXISTING CR ❯ meet the parents :)

[incorrigibles]

[ he'd thought the weird glitches only affected them, the people brought into this place — but no, it's obviously other stuff, too. just that morning, his place had glitched into looking like a classroom (rude, that), and then he'd ended up in the middle of a three-minute blizzard (even ruder, thanks) shortly after, so really, he should have been expecting it to hit the locals, too.

and even though he knows, logically, that it's just — not real, all that, when he sees a woman, walking towards him, her thick black hair in a braid and a soft, sad smile on her lips, well. he sort of forgets all about everything (including, actually, if he's out here with a friend instead of on his own).

he takes a hesitant step forward. the woman stops, right there, simply watching. saying nothing. ]

Mum? [ and then, as a general statement without looking away from her, ] That's my mum. Or what she looked like, anyway.

[ she's older now, of course, back home, but here, she looks exactly as charles remembers her. and maybe he should be expecting it when another voice speaks, then, from behind him: ]

Don't slouch, Charlie. Haven't I told you to stand straight?

hi. me again

[coolerjunpei]

[Here's the scenario: Junpei, smoothie in hand, extolling the many virtues of various smoothie combos with stupid names, like Triple Berry Blast! He's midway through an explanation of why kiwi banana is an inspired flavor, which really is Charles' fault for humoring his dork-ass topics for this long, when Charles just kind of... veers off from the conversation.

So: huh? He stops and watches—his own experience with the glitches hasn't been as personal as people he knows showing up in some fake way, and so he doesn't really know what to expect from this. Is she going to... talk? Should he go back to the smoothie place and just sit around while Charles talks to his mom? He can do that.

He looks back and forth between her and Charles for a moment, then,]

Uh, should I...?

[Give him a minute? He has this smoothie to amuse himself with, and—

And the sudden interruption of someone else makes him frown, because even in silence Charles' mom looks like a pretty nice lady, and the voice that sounds from behind them is so... Well, how do these glitches work? Something in the psyche has to be responsible, right? So Charles' mom shows up with a smile and the next voice - not hard to make a guess - shows up with a criticism, which is enough for Junpei to assume. Never mind removing himself to finish his smoothie; he steps closer to Charles again, putting a hand on his shoulder and eyeing the new arrival. He's not too sure if immediately feeling defensive is the right call, but he supposes he'll find out.]

❤️

[incorrigibles]

[ to be fair, charles had been listening, not because smoothie flavours are a particular topic of enthusiasm or even relevance to him, but because junpei seemed to have so much to say about them and charles was just happy to listen to him ramble (and egg him on with questions or an i don't believe that pineapple and pistachio go together, you're having me on) —

anyway. his mum's face makes him promptly forget all about smoothies, and then — the second his dad speaks, charles freezes, right there in the middle of the street. he barely registers junpei stepping closer to him, until his hand lands on his shoulder and charles jolts back into the present, throwing his friend a panicked look before quite firmly stepping in front of him in the practised move of someone used to pushing someone else behind him; as he does so, he whispers, low under his breath, ] You should leave.

[ only then does he turn towards the voice, with a quiet, steady, ]

Hi, Dad.

[ his dad's a tall man, taller than charles, bearded and dark-haired and currently staring at his son with barely-concealed anger. ]

Look at me when you talk to me, [ he says then, words bullet-like, and charles flinches as he does as instructed, immediately. he doesn't say anything, simply stands there as mr. rowland takes a step closer, then two. ]

Nothing's changed, has it, huh? Useless enough to get yourself killed, then couldn't even go and move on to your afterlife... and now just as useless, here. Can't do anything right, can you, hm?

[ if words like these were aimed at anyone else in the world, charles would intervene; as it is, he simply stands there, his shoulders hunched slightly, silent.

behind him, his mother wrings her hands and says nothing, either. ]

[coolerjunpei]

[Oh, so he was right to feel defensive, that's... just great. Junpei isn't going anywhere, gripping Charles' arm from behind him to convey as much. Glitches or not, it's an uncomfortable standoff for a hundred reasons, and he's not leaving Charles here to deal with it alone.

He twists to look at Charles' mom, and the look on her face plus the way Charles has already shut down entirely leaves Junpei with no patience left for seeing how this might play out. Mr. Rowland is barely done speaking for a second before Junpei sidesteps out from behind Charles, pointing at the older man... with the smoothie, lest he have to let go of Charles' arm.]

Hey, fuck off.

[Great start. If he's very lucky this will just work, surely these manifestations aren't that adept, but just in case—]

And fuck you. Don't talk to him like that.

CLOSED TO RICHARD ❯ so witch it is

[incorrigibles]

When the letter arrives at his place, Charles blinks at it in confusion — before realising that, of course, Richard would resort to actual, hand-written letters, instead of using the tablet like most everyone else here seems to do. And despite being a bit baffled about the contents (not the formality of it, no, that he expects; it's the carefulness of it, almost like Richard doesn't quite know whether Charles actually wants to see him, which is stupid, because of course he does) he sends his answer back, a resounding yeah, sure, meet me in front of the cafe tomorrow at noon.

He's there waiting, the next day, idly doodling into his notebook when he hears footsteps stop near him — and, at the sight of Richard there, Charles breaks into a smile. "Hey! Good to see you, my lord."

And perhaps to anyone else, this is an entirely normal way to greet someone you care about... if it wasn't for the way they last saw each other. Charles can hear it, still, his own words, pained but heartfelt, it's not your fault — and he believes that, still. there is no blame found in his tone, nor in his eyes.

and here i am. over a month later...

[traumaticus]

For the better or worse, the technology still hadn't managed to appear all that appealing to Richard as he constantly found himself to be awkward and feeling uncomfortable around the mirror-like object showing him the visions. So, basic handwritten letter it is. Normally Richard would have send the message along with Whitey, but the boar was still hiding somewhere -- probably waiting for the aftermaths of the storm to blow out before deciding to come out.

So, instead he had used someone from the Inn, paying the guy to deliver the letter to Charles. Honestly, he wasn't exactly sure what to expect of the ghost. Whether his apology would go through or not. However, unlike with those other ones who he had sent similar apologies to, Richard felt like this one weighted the most. He and Charles might worlds apart but at the same time not at all. Charles had been the first one to acknowledge him as his king, something that Richard would not take lightly. He held great respect for the strange youth because of that, valuing his presence over the other chosen. So, while he might have complicated feelings regarding what went down during the outbreak, the guilt or lack of it, he did want to make sure that he hadn't aliened his one subject.

Needless to say, Charles' reply did lift the veil of doubt on Richard's mind. He sent the youth very brief confirmation that he'll be there.

And well, unsurprisingly enough, it does take some time for him to find this Cafe but hey! He does make it to the appointment, and he is only couple minutes late.

"Pardon me for my tardiness, Charles." Richard says as a greeting, holding his head high and expression neutral as possible. "It fills me with joy to see you are in good health, all things considered."