intro + catchall!

[nightwild]

Who: Fauna and you!
Where: Mostly Aldrip
What: An intro and a catch-all for September!
Warnings: No warnings as of yet.

i. getting used to it

[Having arrived in mid-Bon festival, Fauna's finally getting a routine going. She still hasn't taken a house for herself, though, not yet. Instead, she's been getting by by breaking into houses and curling up for a couple hours at a time in a corner, then fleeing before anyone knows she was there. She's figured out she can wash up at certain places around the docks, and she's lifted enough money that she has good clothes- Rather than blending in, though, she's dressed like a punk, complete with a leather jacket.

The problem is, this place is much smaller than Seitei. There were enough people there that even with her fox ears, she could blend in fine, just by the sheer number of people. That won't work here. So she has to figure out a new way to keep under the radar. She's got ways to hide herself, but she doesn't want to play that hand too early, so...

... She did get an offer. And she can figure out what to do with herself afterwards. Which leaves Fauna standing outside Bar Lupin, staring at it. Her tail swishes in anxiety behind her as she tries to decide whether or not to go in.

A weird punk staring daggers at a bar might be worth investigating for anyone nearby.]

ii. investigation

[That's her daytime activity. On the other hand, at night? Night is the time for monsters and heroes to roam. And she has a prime target.

Under the cover of darkness, a strange figure can be seen running across the rooftops of Aldrip. Patrolling, it might seem, looking to see if there's trouble anywhere. People let their guards down at night. The glitches might hurt people worse when their guards are down. But that doesn't take the whole night.

Instead, she knows where to focus most of her investigation: City Hall. The 'council' stays there. That's the seat of power. But it's impossible to get in. The bastards in charge are hiding there... If they're there at all.

Those others active at night may see a strange, ninja-looking figure creeping around the building. Checking the windows, trying to pick locks- And if you catch her on a bad night, you might see her trying to just blast the doors down by kicking them with explosive force.]

iii. naptime

[So if her days are spent acclimating, and her nights are spent investigating, when does she sleep? Good question! The answer is, as mentioned above, she catches naps here and there. Breaks into houses that seem empty, naps for a couple hours, then flees.

She might have picked your house, this time- She might have simply misjudged when people are absent. You could come home and find a foxgirl tucked away in your corner. Or you might find her sleeping on a park bench. Or in a tree. Or on a ledge. Or halfway under a bush.

Wherever she is, she's definitely not supposed to be sleeping there.]

iv. watch this space

[As things develop over the month, I may end up making more prompts or personalized toplevels for people! If you want to plot, you can hit me up at lastbastion for planning threads.]

Comments

naptime

[coolerjunpei]

[Junpei's house - a respectable little one-bedroom cottage that's way too cozy for someone like him - probably seems like no one lives in it because he's moved in only a few days ago. It's furnished, sure, but it came furnished; he hasn't had time to really leave his stuff all over the place, so really, it's his own fault if someone assumes the place is uninhabited.

...Well, there is the dog. But Gab is asleep himself much of the time, usually under the coffee table, and small enough not to notice.

So it goes: Junpei comes home mid-afternoon from an early shift at Silco's Sandwich Hut, entering the little cottage and flicking on the light - only to startle and immediately drop the takeout sandwiches he brought home for himself at the sight of something in the corner.]

Shit— [he takes a second to debate between the sandwiches and the body? is that a body? before he steps over the sandwiches and gingerly goes to investigate.] Uh— Jesus, what the fuck? Hey?

[nightwild]

[The first sign of life is that her ears twitch as she hears him curse. She wakes up quickly, at least- She goes from sleeping in one instant to springing upright and taking a low stance in the next, looking like nothing so much as a cornered animal. She's glaring, growling.]

Who the hell are you?

[That said, her eyes are now darting between Junpei and the nearest window. Can she rush past him and escape? Is it too late? If he got a good look at her...]

[coolerjunpei]

[Okay— not the response he expected, although since she broke into his house, maybe he should have! He holds his hands up immediately, defensive and placating, you know, like one might to someone who looks like they want to smash something into his face.]

Hey hey hey— chill out. I'm Junpei— who the hell are you? This is my house.

[Smartly, he does not add "more or less," possibly aware that that won't help his case. It's his house for sure. For a whole, like, four days.]

[nightwild]

[Part of the problem is, of course, that she scoped out places looking for easy, obvious places in advance. Take this place, for example- She'd checked it out a week ago, and confirmed that no one lived here. That made it a great rest stop. Unfortunately...]

... Tch. No one was supposed to be here... This place was empty before.

[She knows she's technically at fault here, but she's had this song and dance before. And she does not want to know what it looks like in this world if someone calls the cops. Should she apologize and leave? ... Apologizing leaves a bad taste in her mouth.]

Look, I haven't stolen anything from here, so don't freak out.

[coolerjunpei]

Well, yeah, I just left the inn for this place a couple days ago.

[There's a beat, then--] Wait, were you living here? Have you been here the whole time?

[Has he been the one invading somebody's space without noticing it? This sounds like a real possibility to him, even if she was literally just asleep in the corner instead of the bedroom like someone who actually lives here.

Does this count as freaking out. Uhhhhh.]

i.

[conflictresolution]

[Silco did not make it a point to travel close to the Lupin often, but sometimes it was one of the quickest routes as he walked between many of his established businesses. He stayed on the other side of the street from it to uphold the claim that he was merely passing by on public streets if a confrontation would occur. Oh he wanted one some day, but no, he had a plan that didn't require fists to fly.

Yet, as he passed by, he did take notice of the glaring newcomer. Anyone who might be pissed at the sister was someone he wanted to know, of course. It was just good business sense to know what the fuss might be about, even if the usual reasons might be mundane like the sister flipping the bird or cussing someone out. Such Zaun behaviour.

He approached and peered at the Lupin as he came to stand next to the new Chosen.] That look comes with a story. You must be new to these parts. Can I offer you a meal to hear the tale for the reason of your filthy look?

[nightwild]

Haa?

[She turns her glare from the bar to Silco, and her look makes no secret of what she's doing- Sizing him up as a threat. Deciding if she can beat him if she has to. Deciding if she should run.

She spent too long on the streets to trust the kindness of someone asking this stuff at random.]

The hell do you want, old man? I'm not a show.

[conflictresolution]

[Silco was one of the oldest members of the Chosen, and he definitely didn't care to be in fighting form. He'd pressed enough street kids into service over the years to know what one happened to look like. He wasn't affected by the suspicious air about this one either, simply tucking his hands in his coat pockets and shrugging his shoulders.]

I told you already. Why are you glaring at that bar? If you're looking to case it, I would suggest around the side.

[He cast one mismatched look towards the Lupin and turned away to head back to his own business. His offers had expiry dates.]

[nightwild]

[He's too late there, she's already cased it. Figured out the best ways in and out. But...

Well, let it never be said she was resistant to taking bait.]

Hold it.

You know this place?

[conflictresolution]

[Silco paused in walking away to turn back to regard the young Chosen. Would this be a pointless conversation? He hoped not. He did have work to do.]

Of course. Most in Aldrip know of it. Why does it matter to you?

for yusuke

[nightwild]

[After their earlier conversation, Fauna has been ready. She kept well away from City Hall while there was light, but in the cover of darkness? The night is her domain. And she has an accomplice, even.

... That said, she's worried about the accomplice. She can't do much in her human form, and she's regretting how much she said before. It's too late to bow out. And her face was on the internet thing, so if she showed up transformed, he'd still know it was her. Better to be upfront.

The idea of just not showing up had never occurred to her.

Still, the picture of Yusuke from that app had been... less than entirely helpful. Even if she could see fine in the dark, it hadn't been a particularly good image. Easier to let him come to her, she thinks- Bright red hair, fox ears, and eyes that reflect all the light around them make her easy to find. She stands near the front of City Hall, in the shadows and darkness, looking for anyone who looks like they're looking for her.]

[avitus]

[Yusuke, for his own part, has no real misgivings -- despite his token gestures toward something like caution. Real character growth here, alright, Genkai would be ... well, marginally less annoyed with him than average, anyway.

Any restraint he might have had to show has more or less evaporated with the realization that there simply are no real consequences that matter, in Aldrip. Even if they die, they'll just be back a week later, without a scratch on them. So what's the point of worrying? It's better not to get tripped up, of course, so they can have a better chance at actual answers, but he's well and truly past anything like anxiety, now that the shoe he'd been expecting dropped in such a spectacularly bloody and gruesome way as it had the last month.

Despite the terrible picture, Yusuke's pretty easy to spot when he comes along -- dressed like a thug and carrying himself like one to boot, face caught in a vaguely cranky scowl as he walks. It does ease up when he's finally face to face with her, though, and he raises a hand in acknowledgment.]

Yo, fox girl! [She really does look like Kurama, it's wild. In the dark like this, he nearly confused them for a moment and was about to scramble for an excuse what he was doing here.] Ready to bust some shit up?

[nightwild]

[... For some reason, being addressed as "fox girl" puts her in a good mood. It's the 'girl' part, really. But she perks up at his words- Fellow punk. She may butt heads with this one, but she's fairly confident just from how he carries himself that he's got just as much of a disdain for authority as she does, and that means they'll probably get along great.

She punches a fist into her palm.]

Damn right. But before we start, I do gotta ask you one thing.

You any good at keeping secrets?

[avitus]

[Secrets, huh. Honestly, the answer to that is complicated, in some ways. He wasn't able to hide the whole Spirit Detective thing from Keiko for very long, after all. He hasn't exactly gone shouting the nature of the afterlife from the rooftops, and his mom didn't even seem to really understand what he was talking about when he told her he was going off to Demon World for the next few years, but then again ... it's not as though he's had many people to tell things to.]

What kind of secret? One of the friends I'm living with already probably knows about this, honestly. I'm almost definitely gonna get torn a new one later. [he seems so unconcerned abt this tho] But otherwise, sure. Gossip isn't really my thing, anyway.

[nightwild]

Nah... I just want to keep some of my powers hidden as much as I can. No point tipping my hand to everyone just yet. But if we're gonna do this, I'm gonna need to pull out some of my tricks, you know?

[She rolls her shoulder and neck a bit, like she's gearing up to start swinging... Then pulls up her left sleeve, revealing a strange device attached to her wrist.]

ii

[solitarysoul]

[Sometimes Levi travels along the rooftops of Aldrip for perfectly legitimate reasons. One night he comes across the fox girl trying to pick the lock on the roof access door to somewhere or another. He pauses, then clears his throat. Hopefully he doesn't spook her.]

dreamwidth i am begging you to give me my notifs

[nightwild]

[well, right now, she's an owl. Her neck turns a bit too far for a human to stare at Levi.]

The hell you want?

[solitarysoul]

[Owl girl, fox girl, same difference.]

What are you doing?

[nightwild]

Breaking into City Hall. What's it look like?

[solitarysoul]

Why? There's nothing in there.

iii.

[foxphorus]

[ Seimei doesn't have much in the way of home security for physical intruders aside from the built in locks on the doors and windows. He's much more concerned about metaphysical intruders, and that's taken care of by the invisible barriers set up outside. If someone really, really wanted to get in the old fashioned way, it wouldn't be too hard.

So that's how a fox might have found her way snuggled into a corner of Seimei's home while he was busy with library work.

He doesn't have much in the way of furniture or decorations, so a person-sized lump in the corner immediately stands out when he opens the door. It's with quiet, careful steps that he approaches, keeping about an arm's length from the sleeping girl as he tries to confirm what it is he's seeing.

Does she seem close to waking up...? ]

[nightwild]

[Not exactly close to waking up- But she's a light sleeper- Any footfalls that made noise would have her ears swivel towards them, even in her sleep. As long as he treads lightly, though... Well, foxes are known for having light footsteps, aren't they?

She's curled into a ball, her tail wrapped around herself as she sleeps. Observation shows, as well, her clothes are pretty rumpled, and she doesn't seem like someone who's been taking good care of herself.]

[foxphorus]

[ A vagrant? That's odd, not a lot of those around here when stuff like food and housing is so readily available. Which means something could be very wrong.

Ugh, he doesn't want to signal that his home is open for any poor soul who might need the teeniest bit of help or whatever, but all things considered this could be something not very "teeny". And it's not like he's struggling for his own resources, what with aforementioned food and housing, so he can afford to help her out, it's just...

With a quiet sigh, he relents and kneels down where he is. ]

Miss.

[nightwild]

[At the word, her eyes fly open, and she's rolling upright. Her eyes dart around, taking in the surroundings quickly- First, to Seimei, then the area. She's plotting escape routes, looking to see if she can get past him, or if she can take him in a fight if she has to.

... She looks like nothing so much as a cornered animal, her fight or flight reaction strong.]

-- Shit-! Who're you?!

[foxphorus]

The owner of this house.

[ His tone is calm, even, much like his posture. No loud accusations, no sudden movements, only watching out for her reactions in case her instincts settle on "fight." ]

If I had known a guest was coming I would have prepared tea.