[barracks | open to all | multiple threads]

[bladecrossed]

Naoto was Not Happy. It was pretty obvious that she was Not Happy, having ended up with the task of gathering information about this place, but if Heine was going to be such a jerk about not telling her anything, she'd just do all of the work by herself. Naoto was great at making friends. Just fantastic, a regular social butterfly. Especially

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[notalighieri]

Dante was not the type to socialize. He preferred to keep to himself and had done a decent job of keeping people at arms length for the weeks he'd been here. However, keeping a slight tab on your fellow marooned forest campers was in anyone's best interest in a place like this. Then there was other reasons for breaking the silence.

Like new girls with swords and short skirts.

He spotted her from between the houses as she went up to the library. Pausing, he weighted his options before silently closing the distance and coming up around the corner of the house.

Leather pants, no shirt, and white hair.

"Hey there, babe -haven't seen you around before~"

[bladecrossed]

Naoto flinched at the unexpected voice, startled that anyone had managed to creep so close without making a sound that drew attention. True, she'd been focused on the cabins, but still...it was an unforgivable mistake on her part, especially in unknown territory. Her fingers were already on her katana before she processed his words, but she didn't actually draw the weapon.

Babe. This day kept getting better. But still, she'd give him a minute, hear what he had to say. He might know something about this place. "I just got here," Naoto said. She let her fingers fall back to her side, but remained carefully tense.

Naoto needed some kind of ward against people with white hair.

"What can you tell me about this place?" The words were spoken in a friendly tone, but the tone didn't quite cover the claws behind it. Starting off a conversation by calling her 'babe' was not a way to win Naoto's favor.

[notalighieri]

Just got here huh? Congratulations and sympathies.

He liked claws, though. Dante's crooked smile widened slightly and he leaned one arm against the wall. "The clubbing scene sucks, I can tell you that. The housing.. also sucks. The locals... are fairies an' talking animals. There's folks who seems to have been stuck here fer months and not found a way out."

He paused and pursed his lips in thought. Waving his hand out he shrugged. "Yeah that's it. So... what might your name be, babe?"

[bladecrossed]

"Fairies and talking animals," Naoto said. There wasn't as much disbelief in her voice as one might have expected, though. She'd heard crude terms applied to the genetically modified children, so while the idea of fae was silly, the idea of a winged child with hooves was not.

"How can you just not find a way out?" she asked. Naoto had never seen a forest but she'd imagined them, and she knew that nothing went on forever. "You walk in a straight line, you end up somewhere else, right?"

Although she bristled, Naoto knew that she'd have to put up with the term 'babe' until she gave him her real name, and probably for long after that. "Naoto," she told him. "Naoto Fuyumine. And who are you?"

[bell_bound]

Mogget was passing by on his way back to the cabins. He carried a dead mouse in his mouth, but having caught it, he didn't really feel like eating it. So he was going to leave it in someone's bed. He was feeling that grumpy.

He saw the girl, but took no notice of her. Anyone inside the barracks was probably not one of the natives and therefore of little use when it came to finding out more about this place.

[bladecrossed]

Talking animals, Dante had said. Naoto had trouble buying it, but she'd grasp at straws if straws were the only thing available and right then, her situation seemed like a hell of a lot of straws. She took a deep breath, determined. Even if there was no one around to see her make an idiot out of herself, she was about to talk to a cat. And not in that condescending pet voice, either--if the cat actually could talk and knew something useful, the last thing she wanted to do was piss it off.

"Hey," she said. A cat. A cat with its mouth full, nonetheless. Naoto felt ridiculous. "Any chance you can help me out?"

[bell_bound]

Luckily for her, Mogget could understand her perfectly well. If there had been anyone else around, he would have thought she was calling to them, but since there was no-one in the immediate vicinity and she was definitely looking his way...

He paused in his tracks to drop the mouse. "...Help you with what?"

Mogget, in general, was not inclined to help anyone. If she wanted something from him, he would want something back.

[bladecrossed]

Well. That settled that. Naoto tried not to look startled and very nearly succeeded. Unfortunately, the fact that the cat talked back didn't make her feel any less absurd.

"I just got here a couple hours ago. Do you know anything about this place?"

If Naoto remembered right, Dante had told her that the whole place was controlled by fae and talking animals, so she might be onto something. Then again, she still hadn't let go of the possibility that she was somewhere back home with a bad concussion.

[lovethissuit]

Peter decides to break up the day of general cabin improvement and woodchopping by heading to the library. There's plenty of books with blank pages that could serve a better purpose as art fodder for a certain easily-bored felon, and if it keeps said felon by the cabin and out of the woods, well. Win all around.

Nearing the door, he sees Naoto. He almost - almost - makes a comment about faces sticking like that if kept too long. Except he can most definitely see that sword, and he doesn't have a death wish. So instead, he'll just ask, "You waiting for anyone in particular, or is there just something terribly important about this wall that needed guarding."

...He can't help the snark, okay. It's a thing.

[bladecrossed]

Naoto's glare isn't directed at anyone in particular (no one present, at least), but she does seem especially well-practiced in the art. She exhales, tired, and before she makes eye contact with the man in front of her, her expression changes to one of neutral determination. Naoto doesn't need enemies right now, and being in a bad mood isn't an excuse to earn them. Anyone who can help her is a potential ally, and despite his sarcasm, this guy doesn't sound malicious.

"I'm waiting for someone who can tell me about this place," she says. 'Friendly' would be a bit much, but 'civil' describes her tone fairly well. "Any chance that's you?"

[lovethissuit]

Peter returns the stare unflinchingly. "Depends on what you want to know," he replies coolly. "The pertinent details are few and far between, but other than that... Yes, we're all stuck here. No, we haven't found a way out yet. Yes, there's magic, monsters, and fairies outside this fort so I really hope that stickpin you've got hanging there isn't just for show."

With the Cliffnotes out of the way, he almost starts to put a hand out for shaking until he thinks better of it. Instead, he just nods. "Name's Peter Burke, FBI. I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say you just showed up, huh."

[bladecrossed]

Though it hadn't been negative before, Naoto's opinion of the man immediately improves as he speaks. Quick, concise answers to exactly the questions she's spent all day asking, and even though none of the information is new, it's the cleanest delivery she'd gotten so far.

"Naoto Fuyumine," she says. "And yeah, I got here earlier today." She gives her katana a quick glance at his final comment. "I can handle myself at home, but I've never dealt with magic or fairies. Is there anything I should know about them?"